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 | 76 | 220 | 172 | 124 | 56 | 40 |
| FY2016 | 116 | 276 | 168 | 225 | 102 | 24 |
| FY2017 | 91 | 266 | 189 | 167 | 63 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 120 | 253 | 178 | 195 | 126 | 10 |
| FY2019 | 128 | 283 | 184 | 227 | 115 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 129 | 232 | 162 | 199 | 33 | 9 |
| FY2021 | 108 | 279 | 137 | 249 | 34 | 9 |
| FY2022 | 95 | 261 | 129 | 227 | 45 | -7 |
| FY2023 | 98 | 242 | 136 | 204 | 32 | 6 |
| FY2024 | 86 | 272 | 163 | 195 | 53 | 16 |
| FY2025 | 88 | 292 | 158 | 223 | 58 | 21 |
| FY2026 | 86 | 303 | 208 | 181 | 28 | 30 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.