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 | 43 | 249 | 18 | 273 | 19 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 46 | 233 | 27 | 253 | 1 | 14 |
| FY2017 | 52 | 231 | 35 | 248 | 15 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 47 | 251 | 50 | 248 | 61 | 14 |
| FY2019 | 50 | 247 | 37 | 260 | 73 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 55 | 222 | 33 | 244 | 78 | 13 |
| FY2021 | 38 | 261 | 59 | 240 | 93 | 14 |
| FY2022 | 41 | 247 | 74 | 215 | 91 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 35 | 254 | 90 | 199 | 100 | 17 |
| FY2024 | 32 | 249 | 88 | 193 | 105 | 21 |
| FY2025 | 32 | 286 | 116 | 202 | 100 | 19 |
| FY2026 | 29 | 248 | 101 | 176 | 82 | 18 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.