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 | 24 | 90 | 9 | 105 | 32 | 18 |
| FY2016 | 19 | 90 | 10 | 99 | 31 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 19 | 105 | 11 | 113 | 22 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 28 | 103 | 13 | 118 | 54 | 12 |
| FY2019 | 36 | 99 | 15 | 119 | 37 | 11 |
| FY2020 | 39 | 96 | 15 | 120 | 16 | 6 |
| FY2021 | 37 | 137 | 21 | 153 | 28 | 11 |
| FY2022 | 33 | 100 | 20 | 113 | 46 | 37 |
| FY2023 | 34 | 110 | 12 | 132 | 40 | 12 |
| FY2024 | 40 | 108 | 14 | 134 | 43 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 48 | 105 | 16 | 137 | 51 | 13 |
| FY2026 | 49 | 110 | 18 | 141 | 44 | 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.