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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 30 | 87 | 97 | 19 | 9 | — |
| FY2018 | 31 | 93 | 112 | 11 | 14 | 20 |
| FY2019 | 34 | 94 | 107 | 22 | 18 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 28 | 94 | 116 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 35 | 108 | 153 | -10 | -9 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 33 | 102 | 144 | -8 | -14 | -4 |
| FY2023 | 36 | 82 | 118 | -1 | -7 | 6 |
| FY2024 | 38 | 75 | 135 | -22 | -11 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 31 | 79 | 111 | -1 | -2 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 28 | 68 | 106 | -10 | 2 | 20 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.