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 | 28 | 111 | 446 | -307 | -1,177 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 22 | 111 | 715 | -582 | -876 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 17 | 117 | 347 | -213 | -679 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 31 | 62 | 363 | -271 | -798 | 7 |
| FY2019 | 20 | 54 | 331 | -257 | -484 | 15 |
| FY2020 | 17 | 56 | 490 | -417 | -539 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 31 | 102 | 1,261 | -1,128 | -2,787 | -3 |
| FY2022 | 25 | 53 | 532 | -453 | -1,405 | 7 |
| FY2023 | 11 | 55 | 343 | -277 | -257 | 26 |
| FY2024 | 10 | 59 | 433 | -364 | -87 | 18 |
| FY2025 | 9 | 55 | 183 | -119 | -38 | 20 |
| FY2026 | 14 | 51 | 157 | -91 | -40 | 16 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.