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 | 23 | 100 | 51 | 72 | 10 | 6 |
| FY2016 | 21 | 114 | 42 | 93 | 17 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 54 | 144 | 48 | 150 | 31 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 66 | 153 | 53 | 165 | 31 | 7 |
| FY2019 | 76 | 191 | 59 | 209 | 26 | 6 |
| FY2020 | 37 | 205 | 49 | 193 | 27 | 9 |
| FY2021 | 58 | 161 | 43 | 176 | 55 | 12 |
| FY2022 | 64 | 136 | 28 | 172 | 55 | 20 |
| FY2023 | 57 | 126 | 39 | 144 | 70 | 33 |
| FY2024 | 58 | 156 | 44 | 170 | 90 | 35 |
| FY2025 | 66 | 139 | 40 | 165 | 84 | 25 |
| FY2026 | 61 | 120 | 54 | 127 | 87 | 28 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.