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 | 61.14 | 79.17 | 124 | 16.42 | 34.23 | 9.54 |
| FY2016 | 45.58 | 44.37 | 41.64 | 48.32 | 51.82 | 23.53 |
| FY2017 | 61.05 | 124 | 48.85 | 136 | 79.91 | 33.48 |
| FY2018 | 82.31 | 49.38 | 62.34 | 69.35 | 59.24 | 17.10 |
| FY2019 | 67.36 | 90.38 | 63.43 | 94.31 | 60.21 | 18.22 |
| FY2020 | 85.89 | 72.72 | 51.13 | 107 | 106 | 21.68 |
| FY2021 | 119 | 129 | 101 | 146 | 148 | 27.28 |
| FY2022 | 145 | 187 | 48.06 | 284 | 205 | 17.31 |
| FY2023 | 71.89 | 211 | 26.72 | 256 | 212 | 0.27 |
| FY2024 | 118 | 194 | 98.82 | 213 | 135 | 2.32 |
| FY2025 | 43.11 | 206 | 116 | 133 | -2.38 | 4.04 |
| FY2026 | 19.13 | 242 | 40.24 | 221 | 33.83 | 0.96 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.