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 | 8 | 28 | 57 | -20 | -26 | 19 |
| FY2016 | 8 | 30 | 70 | -32 | -27 | 23 |
| FY2017 | 6 | 25 | 65 | -33 | -36 | 24 |
| FY2018 | 7 | 21 | 70 | -42 | -40 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 10 | 20 | 59 | -29 | -30 | 19 |
| FY2020 | 10 | 22 | 51 | -20 | -20 | 9 |
| FY2021 | 7 | 22 | 73 | -44 | -50 | 11 |
| FY2022 | 8 | 20 | 54 | -26 | -30 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 10 | 23 | 58 | -25 | -30 | 16 |
| FY2024 | 12 | 19 | 62 | -31 | -26 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 16 | 23 | 57 | -18 | -24 | 22 |
| FY2026 | 11 | 31 | 61 | -19 | -29 | 19 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.