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 | 103 | 606 | 82 | 628 | 192 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 126 | 1,491 | 239 | 1,378 | 344 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 131 | 1,317 | 186 | 1,263 | 443 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 91 | 1,403 | 193 | 1,301 | 364 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 152 | 5,093 | 585 | 4,660 | 606 | 6 |
| FY2020 | 191 | 4,317 | 426 | 4,083 | 732 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 168 | 4,418 | 601 | 3,985 | 653 | 7 |
| FY2022 | 100 | 6,828 | 1,155 | 5,773 | 524 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 110 | 474 | 156 | 428 | 66 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 77 | 334 | 75 | 336 | 52 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 146 | 452 | 139 | 459 | 95 | 4 |
| FY2026 | 226 | 726 | 212 | 740 | 155 | 5 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.