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 | 54 | 118 | 146 | 26 | -49 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 130 | 220 | 341 | 9 | -168 | 1 |
| FY2017 | 75 | 196 | 402 | -130 | -500 | -4 |
| FY2018 | 64 | 202 | 374 | -108 | -876 | -4 |
| FY2019 | 73 | 214 | 381 | -94 | -1,158 | -5 |
| FY2020 | 51 | 254 | 182 | 123 | 166 | -6 |
| FY2021 | 110 | 244 | 176 | 179 | 302 | -5 |
| FY2022 | 111 | 201 | 195 | 117 | 97 | -2 |
| FY2023 | 118 | 217 | 165 | 170 | 54 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 87 | 199 | 173 | 113 | 118 | 9 |
| FY2025 | 96 | 219 | 149 | 166 | 135 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 78 | 111 | 99 | 90 | 95 | 2 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.