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 | 14 | 24 | 116 | -78 | -104 | -10 |
| FY2016 | 19 | 36 | 223 | -168 | -203 | 7 |
| FY2017 | 22 | 44 | 60 | 6 | -53 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 19 | 45 | 41 | 23 | -63 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 14 | 39 | 29 | 24 | -49 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 7 | 30 | 24 | 14 | -33 | -16 |
| FY2021 | 28 | 90 | 50 | 67 | -44 | -1 |
| FY2022 | 23 | 62 | 55 | 29 | -13 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 15 | 25 | 23 | 17 | -1 | 20 |
| FY2024 | 16 | 38 | 33 | 21 | 1 | 26 |
| FY2025 | 14 | 32 | 24 | 21 | -1 | 4 |
| FY2026 | 25 | 67 | 52 | 41 | 9 | 18 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.