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 | 9 | 102 | 183 | -71 | -29 | — |
| FY2016 | 70 | 17 | 94 | -6 | -74 | 15 |
| FY2017 | 53 | 190 | 295 | -51 | -13 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 65 | 200 | 228 | 37 | -18 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 123 | 218 | 204 | 138 | 51 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 149 | 339 | 211 | 277 | 132 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 113 | 273 | 187 | 199 | 88 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 90 | 222 | 202 | 109 | 108 | 10 |
| FY2023 | 117 | 167 | 279 | 5 | 54 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 78 | 163 | 222 | 20 | 76 | 13 |
| FY2025 | 53 | 85 | 130 | 9 | 20 | 16 |
| FY2026 | 79 | 101 | 123 | 58 | 48 | 16 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.