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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2006 | 55 | 179 | 93 | 142 | -1,933 | — |
| FY2016 | 90 | 156 | 131 | 114 | 75 | — |
| FY2017 | 83 | 128 | 99 | 112 | 51 | 30 |
| FY2018 | 96 | 146 | 120 | 121 | 62 | 26 |
| FY2019 | 129 | 262 | 141 | 250 | 111 | 26 |
| FY2020 | 118 | 267 | 148 | 237 | 122 | 20 |
| FY2021 | 158 | 168 | 122 | 205 | 60 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 103 | 376 | 178 | 301 | 25 | 19 |
| FY2023 | 80 | 493 | 143 | 430 | 48 | 26 |
| FY2024 | 86 | 123 | 65 | 144 | 70 | 31 |
| FY2025 | 114 | 548 | 264 | 398 | 84 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 97 | 385 | 135 | 346 | 106 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.