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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2009 | 32 | 81 | 150 | -37 | -37 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 49 | 89 | 145 | -7 | -1 | — |
| FY2017 | 58 | 107 | 164 | 1 | 15 | 27 |
| FY2018 | 53 | 84 | 159 | -22 | 10 | 40 |
| FY2019 | 56 | 85 | 131 | 9 | 20 | 24 |
| FY2020 | 54 | 107 | 171 | -10 | -5 | 27 |
| FY2021 | 62 | 135 | 220 | -23 | -14 | 22 |
| FY2022 | 57 | 129 | 164 | 22 | 14 | 28 |
| FY2023 | 53 | 95 | 138 | 11 | 4 | 35 |
| FY2024 | 53 | 100 | 164 | -10 | -2 | 42 |
| FY2025 | 52 | 95 | 151 | -3 | 22 | 42 |
| FY2026 | 61 | 99 | 131 | 29 | 32 | 23 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.