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 | 72 | — | — | 72 | -147 | 27 |
| FY2016 | 75 | 150 | 428 | -203 | -215 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 56 | 157 | 406 | -193 | -175 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 61 | 152 | 550 | -337 | -162 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 51 | — | — | 51 | -101 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 37 | 320 | 588 | -231 | -85 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 43 | 76 | 478 | -359 | -119 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 34 | — | — | 34 | -128 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 30 | — | — | 30 | -47 | 16 |
| FY2024 | 23 | — | — | 23 | -41 | 18 |
| FY2025 | 45 | 50 | 687 | -592 | -32 | 12 |
| FY2026 | 56 | 1 | 55 | 2 | -6 | 10 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.