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 | 64 | 62 | 48 | 78 | 2 | — |
| FY2016 | 55 | 54 | 27 | 82 | 7 | 26 |
| FY2017 | 62 | 49 | 24 | 86 | 17 | 23 |
| FY2018 | 68 | 40 | 21 | 87 | 30 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 60 | 48 | 26 | 82 | 41 | 20 |
| FY2020 | 57 | 78 | 28 | 108 | 63 | 13 |
| FY2021 | 62 | 116 | 33 | 144 | 63 | 11 |
| FY2022 | 42 | 84 | 23 | 103 | 46 | 15 |
| FY2023 | 30 | 76 | 16 | 90 | 37 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 36 | 92 | 19 | 109 | 36 | 13 |
| FY2025 | 47 | 95 | 19 | 123 | 30 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 39 | 88 | 26 | 102 | 23 | 12 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.