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 | 68 | 109 | 77 | 99 | 32 | 17 |
| FY2016 | 63 | 92 | 81 | 74 | 39 | 21 |
| FY2017 | 62 | 109 | 40 | 130 | 55 | 42 |
| FY2018 | 47 | 93 | 55 | 85 | 44 | 49 |
| FY2019 | 47 | 85 | 80 | 52 | 37 | 33 |
| FY2020 | 56 | 95 | 26 | 125 | 85 | 20 |
| FY2021 | 99 | 151 | 80 | 170 | 112 | 20 |
| FY2022 | 84 | 214 | 63 | 236 | 131 | 56 |
| FY2023 | 54 | 81 | 40 | 94 | 63 | 26 |
| FY2024 | 82 | 141 | 35 | 188 | 206 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 29 | 393 | 48 | 374 | 97 | 28 |
| FY2026 | 22 | 428 | 30 | 420 | 452 | 15 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.