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 | 262 | 546 | 190 | 618 | 287 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 167 | 184 | 149 | 201 | 16 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 57 | 241 | 84 | 214 | -42 | -1 |
| FY2018 | 78 | 134 | 150 | 62 | -431 | -8 |
| FY2019 | 1,466 | 7,084 | 8,344 | 206 | -15,613 | -102 |
| FY2020 | 1,866 | 30,641 | 37,323 | -4,815 | -43,260 | -242 |
| FY2021 | 1,326 | 972 | 817 | 1,480 | -8,167 | -24 |
| FY2022 | 11 | 96 | 6 | 101 | 108 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 45 | 383 | 14 | 414 | 161 | 1 |
| FY2024 | 169 | 101 | 42 | 228 | 234 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 324 | 100 | 245 | 180 | 314 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 375 | 77 | 174 | 278 | 202 | 9 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.