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 | 215 | 312 | 120 | 407 | 141 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 208 | 368 | 137 | 439 | -26 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 182 | 305 | 91 | 396 | -97 | 2 |
| FY2018 | 194 | 291 | 118 | 367 | -49 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 169 | 284 | 114 | 339 | 217 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 186 | 313 | 123 | 375 | 248 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 177 | 301 | 111 | 367 | 253 | 7 |
| FY2022 | 160 | 288 | 118 | 330 | 253 | 7 |
| FY2023 | 153 | 242 | 113 | 282 | 234 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 48 | 6 | 52 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 107 | 145 | 140 | 112 | 115 | 1 |
| FY2026 | 113 | 191 | 188 | 116 | 165 | 5 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.