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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2011 | 152 | 110 | 141 | 121 | 41 | — |
| FY2012 | 60 | 49 | 35 | 74 | 40 | 5 |
| FY2018 | 103 | 47 | 65 | 86 | 26 | — |
| FY2019 | 100 | 42 | 45 | 96 | 44 | 19 |
| FY2020 | 108 | 81 | 73 | 116 | 69 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 159 | 96 | 80 | 175 | 111 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 76 | 64 | 50 | 91 | 65 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 46 | 59 | 28 | 78 | 55 | 12 |
| FY2024 | 35 | 41 | 23 | 53 | 29 | 16 |
| FY2025 | 18 | 33 | 15 | 36 | 24 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 19 | 25 | 9 | 34 | 33 | 9 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.