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 | 18 | 16 | 50 | -16 | -15 | 50 |
| FY2016 | 16 | 14 | 51 | -20 | -12 | 54 |
| FY2017 | 20 | 14 | 62 | -29 | -17 | 48 |
| FY2018 | 16 | 16 | 56 | -24 | -15 | 45 |
| FY2019 | 29 | 19 | 54 | -5 | 6 | 39 |
| FY2020 | 19 | 24 | 58 | -15 | -10 | 27 |
| FY2021 | 27 | 30 | 88 | -32 | -21 | 24 |
| FY2022 | 27 | 26 | 76 | -23 | -14 | 18 |
| FY2023 | 29 | 27 | 73 | -17 | -7 | 23 |
| FY2024 | 25 | 25 | 80 | -30 | -17 | 29 |
| FY2025 | 30 | 27 | 77 | -20 | -11 | 30 |
| FY2026 | 18 | 31 | 88 | -40 | -31 | 35 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.