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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 80 | 454 | 218 | 315 | 115 | — |
| FY2018 | 132 | 715 | 377 | 471 | 150 | 18 |
| FY2019 | 76 | 1,252 | 565 | 764 | 118 | 16 |
| FY2020 | 59 | 1,169 | 674 | 554 | 108 | 15 |
| FY2021 | 49 | 441 | 207 | 283 | 110 | 17 |
| FY2022 | 68 | 259 | 114 | 212 | 97 | 7 |
| FY2023 | 55 | 502 | 64 | 493 | 175 | 7 |
| FY2024 | 178 | 470 | 200 | 449 | 269 | 6 |
| FY2025 | 186 | 414 | 104 | 496 | 270 | 12 |
| FY2026 | 128 | 299 | 84 | 342 | 209 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.