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 | 17 | 136 | 175 | -23 | -58 | 10 |
| FY2016 | 24 | 135 | 207 | -48 | -105 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 27 | 147 | 172 | 2 | -66 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 24 | 118 | 149 | -7 | -36 | 18 |
| FY2019 | 31 | 123 | 137 | 17 | -63 | 20 |
| FY2020 | 22 | 130 | 169 | -17 | -96 | 9 |
| FY2021 | 21 | 160 | 171 | 9 | -93 | 15 |
| FY2022 | 19 | 208 | 190 | 36 | -24 | 28 |
| FY2023 | 16 | 130 | 149 | -4 | -50 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 16 | 151 | 133 | 33 | -29 | 13 |
| FY2025 | 18 | 142 | 132 | 28 | -19 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 22 | 124 | 130 | 16 | -15 | 11 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.