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 | 40 | 112 | 61 | 91 | 1 | 17 |
| FY2016 | 59 | 116 | 58 | 116 | 9 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 44 | 114 | 36 | 123 | 29 | 22 |
| FY2018 | 51 | 127 | 51 | 127 | 59 | 21 |
| FY2019 | 57 | 181 | 40 | 198 | 74 | 21 |
| FY2020 | 45 | 131 | 24 | 152 | 63 | 19 |
| FY2021 | 33 | 170 | 20 | 183 | 78 | 25 |
| FY2022 | 36 | 175 | 37 | 174 | 80 | 31 |
| FY2023 | 37 | 185 | 33 | 189 | 83 | 24 |
| FY2024 | 40 | 193 | 12 | 221 | 111 | 21 |
| FY2025 | 33 | 175 | 20 | 188 | 113 | 20 |
| FY2026 | 35 | 167 | 21 | 181 | 99 | 20 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.