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 | 93 | 64 | 72 | 85 | -14 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 99 | 85 | 127 | 57 | 66 | 22 |
| FY2017 | 111 | 69 | 108 | 72 | 59 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 110 | 85 | 108 | 86 | 96 | 13 |
| FY2019 | 109 | 63 | 119 | 53 | 59 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 97 | 67 | 115 | 49 | 55 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 123 | 100 | 152 | 71 | 57 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 99 | 110 | 181 | 28 | 39 | 16 |
| FY2023 | 93 | 94 | 155 | 32 | 45 | 25 |
| FY2024 | 99 | 76 | 110 | 66 | 78 | 30 |
| FY2025 | 93 | 82 | 94 | 80 | 85 | 31 |
| FY2026 | 98 | 78 | 75 | 100 | 113 | 23 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.