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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2014 | 128 | 26 | 145 | 9 | 8 | 26 |
| FY2015 | 146 | 19 | 133 | 32 | 22 | 32 |
| FY2016 | 231 | 29 | 204 | 56 | 46 | 23 |
| FY2017 | 474 | 3 | 399 | 77 | 120 | 23 |
| FY2018 | 300 | 3 | 160 | 143 | 130 | 22 |
| FY2019 | 649 | 2 | 393 | 258 | 238 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 2,891 | 6 | 1,611 | 1,286 | 1,173 | -14 |
| FY2021 | 12,167 | 122 | 7,396 | 4,893 | 4,157 | -19 |
| FY2022 | 7,129 | 34 | 4,319 | 2,844 | 2,562 | 0 |
| FY2023 | 3,188 | 14 | 1,365 | 1,837 | 1,676 | -48 |
| FY2024 | 2,740 | 34 | 1,477 | 1,297 | 1,101 | -61 |
| FY2025 | 1,313 | 50 | 790 | 574 | 297 | -45 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.