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 | 85 | 331 | 189 | 228 | 25 | 17 |
| FY2016 | 92 | 482 | 372 | 202 | 97 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 86 | 213 | 160 | 138 | 71 | 39 |
| FY2018 | 106 | 389 | 239 | 257 | 215 | 35 |
| FY2019 | 88 | 545 | 224 | 410 | 207 | 23 |
| FY2020 | 105 | 534 | 244 | 395 | 295 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 73 | 570 | 104 | 539 | 246 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 116 | 496 | 105 | 507 | 256 | 4 |
| FY2023 | 115 | 432 | 153 | 394 | 198 | 18 |
| FY2024 | 109 | 357 | 120 | 345 | 151 | 30 |
| FY2025 | 103 | 405 | 145 | 362 | 151 | 33 |
| FY2026 | 79 | 480 | 216 | 343 | 111 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.