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 | 65 | 623 | 192 | 496 | -31 | 9 |
| FY2016 | 89 | 537 | 176 | 450 | 12 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 73 | 544 | 166 | 451 | 32 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 52 | 376 | 108 | 319 | 24 | 9 |
| FY2019 | 74 | 356 | 138 | 291 | 33 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 84 | 602 | 169 | 518 | 60 | 2 |
| FY2021 | 97 | 500 | 135 | 462 | 94 | 8 |
| FY2022 | 80 | 329 | 93 | 316 | 78 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 62 | 300 | 79 | 283 | 52 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 60 | 256 | 80 | 237 | 58 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 65 | 428 | 113 | 379 | 68 | 5 |
| FY2026 | 121 | 680 | 217 | 584 | 130 | 6 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.