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 | 51 | 55 | 126 | -20 | -20 | 3 |
| FY2016 | 66 | 51 | 140 | -23 | -10 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 57 | 65 | 125 | -3 | -86 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 73 | 76 | 173 | -24 | -62 | 9 |
| FY2019 | 64 | 69 | 124 | 9 | -34 | 8 |
| FY2020 | 59 | 91 | 113 | 37 | -8 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 56 | 82 | 98 | 40 | 17 | 23 |
| FY2022 | 59 | 96 | 90 | 65 | 55 | 23 |
| FY2023 | 68 | 87 | 87 | 69 | 98 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 70 | 85 | 101 | 54 | 94 | 17 |
| FY2025 | 65 | 94 | 114 | 45 | 107 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 67 | 88 | 103 | 53 | 118 | 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.