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 | 82 | 122 | 36 | 168 | 4 | 3 |
| FY2016 | 63 | 138 | 50 | 151 | -22 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 60 | 164 | 74 | 150 | 19 | 11 |
| FY2018 | 49 | 112 | 39 | 122 | 29 | 22 |
| FY2019 | 55 | 124 | 100 | 79 | 40 | 25 |
| FY2020 | 61 | 121 | 68 | 113 | 10 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 100 | 100 | 45 | 155 | 15 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 66 | 125 | 127 | 65 | -1 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 44 | 61 | 39 | 66 | 1 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 57 | 85 | 69 | 73 | 32 | 19 |
| FY2025 | 50 | 68 | 28 | 90 | 69 | 22 |
| FY2026 | 55 | 96 | 47 | 103 | 57 | 22 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.