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 | 26 | 54 | 122 | -43 | -379 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 57 | 28 | 200 | -116 | -340 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 49 | 22 | 190 | -119 | -726 | 2 |
| FY2018 | 11 | 54 | 308 | -243 | -1,497 | -3 |
| FY2019 | 14 | 31 | 320 | -276 | -1,757 | -2 |
| FY2020 | 58 | 17 | 280 | -204 | -1,882 | 1 |
| FY2021 | 2 | 6 | 258 | -250 | -941 | -1 |
| FY2022 | 6 | 3 | 293 | -284 | -1,090 | -4 |
| FY2023 | 2 | 1 | 162 | -159 | -666 | -8 |
| FY2024 | 11 | 1 | 142 | -130 | -625 | -2 |
| FY2025 | 3 | 1 | 77 | -73 | -1,011 | -28 |
| FY2026 | 4 | 2 | 169 | -163 | -1,447 | -34 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.