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 | 68 | 41 | 9 | 100 | -4 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 60 | 54 | 7 | 107 | -4 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 67 | 66 | 3 | 129 | 4 | 11 |
| FY2018 | 61 | 70 | 32 | 99 | 9 | 17 |
| FY2019 | 71 | 91 | 48 | 113 | 25 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 59 | 115 | 12 | 161 | 50 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 98 | 207 | 116 | 190 | 67 | 14 |
| FY2022 | 72 | 119 | 41 | 149 | 62 | 20 |
| FY2023 | 64 | 94 | 25 | 133 | 58 | 18 |
| FY2024 | 76 | 132 | 41 | 167 | 73 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 82 | 124 | 43 | 163 | 73 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 81 | 95 | 6 | 170 | 71 | 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.