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 | 25 | 102 | 65 | 62 | -7 | 5 |
| FY2016 | 21 | 83 | 47 | 57 | -34 | 10 |
| FY2017 | 15 | 94 | 57 | 53 | -34 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 14 | 94 | 61 | 47 | -24 | 17 |
| FY2019 | 8 | 78 | 62 | 24 | -13 | 23 |
| FY2020 | 9 | 133 | 102 | 40 | -3 | 21 |
| FY2021 | 10 | 106 | 110 | 7 | -10 | 10 |
| FY2022 | 20 | 110 | 111 | 19 | 8 | 16 |
| FY2023 | 20 | 105 | 84 | 40 | 12 | 28 |
| FY2024 | 20 | 100 | 72 | 48 | 30 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 24 | 109 | 66 | 66 | 45 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 28 | 113 | 71 | 69 | 14 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.