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 | 44 | 292 | 207 | 129 | -102 | 2 |
| FY2016 | 42 | 291 | 217 | 116 | -77 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 41 | 358 | 298 | 101 | -86 | 5 |
| FY2018 | 36 | 291 | 257 | 70 | -84 | 2 |
| FY2019 | 29 | 374 | 354 | 50 | -134 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 29 | 349 | 317 | 62 | -160 | -5 |
| FY2021 | 26 | 191 | 134 | 83 | -128 | 7 |
| FY2022 | 28 | 189 | 74 | 143 | -137 | -2 |
| FY2023 | 23 | 290 | 121 | 193 | -80 | 0 |
| FY2024 | 25 | 314 | 166 | 174 | -134 | -8 |
| FY2025 | 27 | 301 | 71 | 256 | -27 | 4 |
| FY2026 | 18 | 221 | 65 | 174 | -47 | 1 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.