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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 47 | 36 | 194 | -111 | 11 | — |
| FY2017 | 59 | 43 | 207 | -105 | 26 | 15 |
| FY2018 | 59 | 46 | 215 | -110 | -333 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 49 | 47 | 181 | -85 | -15 | 5 |
| FY2020 | 43 | 44 | 177 | -91 | -15 | 20 |
| FY2021 | 30 | 30 | 167 | -106 | -31 | 29 |
| FY2022 | 28 | 37 | 133 | -67 | -3 | 34 |
| FY2023 | 42 | — | — | 42 | 8 | 24 |
| FY2024 | 43 | — | — | 43 | -5 | 17 |
| FY2025 | 48 | — | — | 48 | -29 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 52 | — | — | 52 | -37 | 10 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.