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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2007 | 45 | 218 | 59 | 204 | 150 | 18 |
| FY2008 | 39 | 180 | 58 | 161 | 123 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 26 | 192 | 29 | 189 | 70 | — |
| FY2018 | 50 | 291 | 65 | 275 | 82 | 19 |
| FY2019 | 49 | 240 | 45 | 244 | 76 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 41 | 214 | 50 | 206 | 61 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 28 | 264 | 68 | 224 | 91 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 15 | 70 | 47 | 38 | 28 | 20 |
| FY2023 | 48 | 155 | 91 | 113 | 91 | 7 |
| FY2024 | 46 | 149 | 73 | 121 | 90 | 5 |
| FY2025 | 42 | 171 | 73 | 140 | 96 | 1 |
| FY2026 | 48 | 164 | 69 | 142 | 122 | -2 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.