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 | 62 | 109 | 55 | 115 | -110 | 3 |
| FY2016 | 57 | 128 | 120 | 66 | -94 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 57 | 129 | 144 | 42 | -117 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 40 | 87 | 152 | -25 | -78 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 35 | 124 | 143 | 17 | -50 | 20 |
| FY2020 | 76 | 146 | 155 | 67 | -64 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 57 | 166 | 158 | 65 | -79 | 10 |
| FY2022 | 51 | 148 | 137 | 62 | -31 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 59 | 209 | 209 | 60 | -46 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 43 | 224 | 222 | 44 | -63 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 35 | 209 | 175 | 70 | -56 | 12 |
| FY2026 | 30 | 139 | 123 | 47 | -49 | 12 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.