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 | 23 | 62 | 429 | -344 | -61 | — |
| FY2016 | 24 | 62 | 599 | -513 | -169 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 28 | 57 | 692 | -608 | -173 | 4 |
| FY2018 | 40 | 49 | 739 | -650 | -108 | 5 |
| FY2019 | 56 | 48 | 768 | -664 | -103 | 5 |
| FY2020 | 27 | 57 | 584 | -500 | -109 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 45 | 154 | 1,648 | -1,450 | -302 | -1 |
| FY2022 | 26 | 112 | 807 | -668 | -166 | 1 |
| FY2023 | 23 | — | — | 23 | -110 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 24 | — | — | 24 | -73 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 22 | — | — | 22 | -48 | 13 |
| FY2026 | 29 | 59 | 289 | -200 | -6 | 14 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.