How to read this: these lines track how the company manages day-to-day cash. Debtor days is how long customers take to pay; inventory days is how long stock sits before selling; days payable is how long the company takes to pay its own suppliers. Fewer debtor and inventory days generally means cash comes in faster; more days payable means the company holds its cash longer. The right level varies a lot by industry, so the trend over time matters more than any single number.
How to read this: return on capital employed (ROCE) shows how much operating profit the company earns from every unit of capital it uses, as a percentage. A higher, steady line over the years suggests the business uses its capital efficiently. As with most ratios, the multi-year trend tells you more than any single year.
| Period | Debtor Days | Inventory Days | Days Payable | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 121 | 238 | 76 | 282 | 13 | 6 |
| FY2016 | 134 | 342 | 48 | 428 | -7 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 153 | 216 | 73 | 297 | -3 | 1 |
| FY2018 | 129 | 391 | 188 | 332 | 120 | 86 |
| FY2019 | 66 | 428 | 124 | 370 | 86 | 139 |
| FY2020 | 68 | 226 | 30 | 264 | 134 | 0 |
| FY2021 | 84 | 262 | 116 | 230 | 93 | -2 |
| FY2022 | 98 | 431 | 197 | 331 | 75 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 72 | 574 | 164 | 483 | 107 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 78 | 379 | 135 | 321 | 111 | 9 |
| FY2025 | 75 | 507 | 161 | 421 | 141 | 4 |
| FY2026 | 71 | 389 | 138 | 323 | 132 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.