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 | 36 | 130 | 54 | 112 | 72 | — |
| FY2017 | 50 | 122 | 141 | 31 | -75 | — |
| FY2018 | 54 | 127 | 200 | -19 | -106 | -1 |
| FY2019 | 74 | 324 | 806 | -408 | -163 | 0 |
| FY2020 | 27 | 161 | 619 | -431 | -178 | 6 |
| FY2021 | 42 | 140 | 593 | -411 | -46 | 15 |
| FY2022 | 32 | 174 | 568 | -362 | -26 | 19 |
| FY2023 | 36 | 197 | 463 | -230 | -15 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 693 | 1,006 | 2,186 | -487 | -146 | -2 |
| FY2025 | 46 | 111 | 105 | 52 | -135 | -5 |
| FY2026 | 43 | 82 | 73 | 52 | -103 | -8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.