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 | 19 | 345 | 196 | 169 | -26 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 18 | 258 | 160 | 116 | -33 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 18 | 292 | 222 | 88 | -27 | 12 |
| FY2018 | 18 | 269 | 303 | -17 | -21 | 14 |
| FY2019 | 18 | 257 | 179 | 96 | -29 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 17 | 289 | 206 | 100 | -14 | 17 |
| FY2021 | 20 | 257 | 204 | 73 | -5 | 20 |
| FY2022 | 20 | 343 | 203 | 159 | 15 | 17 |
| FY2023 | 18 | 223 | 188 | 53 | -4 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 18 | 235 | 175 | 78 | -1 | 16 |
| FY2025 | 24 | 213 | 199 | 38 | -23 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 20 | 249 | 198 | 71 | -22 | 15 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.