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 | 67 | 149 | 13 | 202 | 82 | 32 |
| FY2016 | 72 | 209 | 10 | 271 | 109 | 25 |
| FY2017 | 82 | 222 | 17 | 287 | 147 | 23 |
| FY2018 | 74 | 273 | 27 | 321 | 134 | 26 |
| FY2019 | 72 | 275 | 25 | 322 | 146 | 21 |
| FY2020 | 68 | 279 | 23 | 324 | 158 | 20 |
| FY2021 | 93 | 377 | 30 | 440 | 248 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 68 | 327 | 67 | 329 | 119 | 12 |
| FY2023 | 39 | 247 | 48 | 238 | 102 | 19 |
| FY2024 | 44 | 250 | 49 | 245 | 94 | 19 |
| FY2025 | 54 | 247 | 58 | 243 | 119 | 17 |
| FY2026 | 42 | 240 | 60 | 222 | 101 | 15 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.