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 | 99 | 94 | 106 | 87 | 114 | 9 |
| FY2016 | 80 | 87 | 96 | 71 | 148 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 58 | 85 | 91 | 51 | 50 | 11 |
| FY2018 | 65 | 82 | 109 | 38 | 37 | 12 |
| FY2019 | 83 | 78 | 111 | 50 | 75 | 17 |
| FY2020 | 74 | 73 | 105 | 41 | 43 | 28 |
| FY2021 | 108 | 95 | 143 | 60 | 54 | 26 |
| FY2022 | 88 | 105 | 131 | 62 | 50 | 30 |
| FY2023 | 85 | 87 | 104 | 68 | 54 | 44 |
| FY2024 | 74 | 94 | 84 | 84 | 56 | 51 |
| FY2025 | 82 | 86 | 108 | 61 | 51 | 60 |
| FY2026 | 78 | 102 | 119 | 62 | 42 | 57 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.