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 | 57 | 147 | 104 | 101 | 29 | 0 |
| FY2016 | 48 | 154 | 143 | 59 | 75 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 35 | 133 | 119 | 50 | -77 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 28 | 116 | 104 | 41 | -20 | 14 |
| FY2019 | 25 | 96 | 99 | 22 | -19 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 20 | 117 | 113 | 23 | -24 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 28 | 130 | 123 | 35 | -2 | 16 |
| FY2022 | 43 | 116 | 98 | 61 | 33 | 44 |
| FY2023 | 37 | 125 | 117 | 46 | 30 | 21 |
| FY2024 | 27 | 108 | 95 | 41 | 23 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 29 | 132 | 124 | 36 | 12 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 26 | 122 | 106 | 42 | 5 | 19 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.