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 | 200 | 17.87 | 41.21 | 177 | 193 | — |
| FY2016 | 205 | 18.30 | 60.55 | 162 | 169 | 10.43 |
| FY2017 | 200 | 13.08 | 50.92 | 162 | 129 | 19.92 |
| FY2018 | 189 | 43.62 | 55.52 | 178 | 170 | 21.20 |
| FY2019 | 160 | 28.94 | 39.08 | 149 | 190 | 14.70 |
| FY2020 | 164 | 22.98 | 54.34 | 133 | 198 | 13.98 |
| FY2021 | 158 | 21.77 | 50.63 | 130 | 159 | 18.85 |
| FY2022 | 144 | 24.26 | 53.69 | 115 | 153 | 15.69 |
| FY2023 | 112 | 17.35 | 38.78 | 90.22 | 115 | 14.34 |
| FY2024 | 126 | 12.03 | 42.55 | 95.32 | 128 | 17.87 |
| FY2025 | 139 | 18.18 | 49.05 | 109 | 148 | 9.97 |
| FY2026 | 127 | 52.19 | 37.42 | 142 | 142 | 7.85 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.