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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2012 | 50 | 178 | 105 | 124 | 4 | 9 |
| FY2013 | 58 | 172 | 114 | 116 | -103 | 16 |
| FY2014 | 57 | 176 | 90 | 143 | -38 | 19 |
| FY2015 | 64 | 205 | 98 | 170 | -20 | 16 |
| FY2016 | 77 | 265 | 176 | 166 | -21 | 11 |
| FY2017 | 59 | 321 | 253 | 126 | -70 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 54 | 395 | 236 | 213 | -10 | 8 |
| FY2019 | 43 | 331 | 292 | 82 | -69 | 3 |
| FY2020 | 34 | 216 | 225 | 25 | -158 | 4 |
| FY2021 | 67 | 315 | 412 | -30 | -422 | -4 |
| FY2022 | 28 | 209 | 242 | -5 | -505 | -3 |
| FY2023 | 9 | 101 | 248 | -139 | -1,098 | -22 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.