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 | 74 | 195 | 55 | 213 | 62 | 15 |
| FY2016 | 102 | 152 | 63 | 191 | 46 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 39 | 5 | 22 | 21 | -173 | 1 |
| FY2018 | 74 | 62 | 444 | -307 | -145 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 227 | 51 | 551 | -273 | -896 | 0 |
| FY2020 | 127 | 94 | 915 | -694 | -800 | 0 |
| FY2021 | 91 | 38 | 519 | -389 | -730 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 124 | — | — | 124 | -937 | 3 |
| FY2023 | 287 | — | — | 287 | -1,018 | 6 |
| FY2024 | 344 | — | — | 344 | -1,604 | 7 |
| FY2025 | 321 | — | — | 321 | -2,193 | 6 |
| FY2026 | 215 | — | — | 215 | -1,656 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.