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 | 243 | 124 | 124 | 243 | 197 | — |
| FY2016 | 286 | 110 | 154 | 241 | 234 | -10 |
| FY2017 | 196 | 84 | 184 | 96 | 115 | -9 |
| FY2018 | 148 | 39 | 108 | 79 | 93 | 5 |
| FY2019 | 86 | 36 | 33 | 89 | 37 | 6 |
| FY2020 | 109 | 70 | 89 | 89 | 22 | 1 |
| FY2021 | 122 | 35 | 525 | -367 | -223 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 132 | 28 | 239 | -79 | -40 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 142 | 10 | 200 | -48 | -4 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 149 | 18 | 118 | 50 | 30 | 13 |
| FY2025 | 156 | 53 | 189 | 20 | 56 | 16 |
| FY2026 | 186 | 33 | 230 | -11 | 49 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.