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 | 89 | 59 | 248 | -100 | -9 | 11 |
| FY2016 | 86 | 79 | 305 | -139 | -18 | 12 |
| FY2017 | 102 | 66 | 332 | -164 | -19 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 108 | 60 | 334 | -165 | -38 | -2 |
| FY2019 | 100 | 44 | 272 | -129 | -12 | 11 |
| FY2020 | 102 | 122 | 673 | -449 | 22 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 136 | 268 | 1,119 | -715 | -16 | -12 |
| FY2022 | 88 | 117 | 721 | -516 | -3 | 3 |
| FY2023 | 62 | 86 | 767 | -619 | -141 | 28 |
| FY2024 | 54 | 134 | 937 | -748 | -244 | 34 |
| FY2025 | 77 | 220 | 1,465 | -1,168 | 40 | 30 |
| FY2026 | 76 | 201 | 884 | -607 | 31 | 30 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.