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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2014 | 18 | 91 | 59 | 51 | 16 | 11 |
| FY2015 | 14 | 87 | 62 | 39 | -32 | 10 |
| FY2016 | 22 | 81 | 70 | 32 | -114 | 15 |
| FY2017 | 25 | 80 | 61 | 45 | -85 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 35 | 79 | 63 | 51 | -87 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 31 | 76 | 67 | 40 | -33 | 17 |
| FY2020 | 26 | 91 | 53 | 65 | -27 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 18 | 101 | 69 | 49 | -8 | 19 |
| FY2022 | 24 | 85 | 67 | 41 | -1 | 13 |
| FY2023 | 20 | 77 | 55 | 42 | 13 | 18 |
| FY2024 | 27 | 74 | 72 | 29 | 40 | 27 |
| FY2025 | 35 | 84 | 75 | 45 | 39 | 25 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.