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 | 96 | 159 | 93 | 162 | -14 | 3 |
| FY2016 | 69 | 128 | 51 | 146 | -37 | 0 |
| FY2017 | 50 | 198 | 75 | 173 | -19 | 7 |
| FY2018 | 141 | 138 | 128 | 151 | -131 | 1 |
| FY2019 | 110 | 74 | 80 | 104 | -253 | 3 |
| FY2020 | 107 | 220 | 108 | 220 | -57 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 36 | 90 | 77 | 50 | -40 | 14 |
| FY2022 | 45 | 88 | 111 | 22 | 130 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 29 | 71 | 69 | 31 | 47 | 16 |
| FY2024 | 56 | 161 | 113 | 105 | 25 | 24 |
| FY2025 | 47 | 85 | 103 | 30 | 155 | 27 |
| FY2026 | 45 | 84 | 87 | 42 | 646 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.