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 | 63 | 61 | 40 | 85 | 35 | 9 |
| FY2016 | 89 | 67 | 63 | 93 | 41 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 84 | 71 | 65 | 90 | 20 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 98 | 54 | 80 | 73 | 18 | 19 |
| FY2019 | 84 | 34 | 52 | 67 | 20 | 22 |
| FY2020 | 79 | 94 | 96 | 77 | 43 | 18 |
| FY2021 | 50 | 38 | 58 | 30 | 24 | 26 |
| FY2022 | 55 | 97 | 63 | 90 | 60 | 98 |
| FY2023 | 104 | 310 | 117 | 297 | 118 | 19 |
| FY2024 | 136 | 187 | 106 | 217 | 101 | 16 |
| FY2025 | 152 | 167 | 112 | 208 | 98 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 203 | 111 | 144 | 170 | 128 | 24 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.