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 | 52 | 33 | 114 | -28 | 39 | 26 |
| FY2016 | 84 | 29 | 153 | -40 | 47 | 24 |
| FY2017 | 76 | 27 | 161 | -58 | 34 | 28 |
| FY2018 | 80 | 21 | 201 | -100 | 21 | 30 |
| FY2019 | 72 | 23 | 184 | -89 | 21 | 35 |
| FY2020 | 80 | 27 | 188 | -81 | 30 | 35 |
| FY2021 | 115 | 23 | 261 | -124 | 52 | 26 |
| FY2022 | 84 | 23 | 169 | -62 | 58 | 17 |
| FY2023 | 99 | 33 | 144 | -12 | 52 | 20 |
| FY2024 | 83 | 25 | 120 | -12 | 45 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 98 | 34 | 137 | -4 | 39 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 90 | 27 | 130 | -12 | 27 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.