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 | 21 | 92 | 293 | -180 | -95 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 18 | 78 | 341 | -245 | -128 | 1 |
| FY2017 | 15 | 74 | 317 | -227 | -21 | 4 |
| FY2018 | 16 | 76 | 326 | -234 | -14 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 14 | 71 | 376 | -291 | -276 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 15 | 103 | 441 | -324 | -55 | 2 |
| FY2021 | 28 | 197 | 756 | -532 | -127 | -7 |
| FY2022 | 24 | 125 | 460 | -311 | -84 | 1 |
| FY2023 | 17 | 86 | 315 | -212 | -39 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 13 | 90 | 274 | -171 | -81 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 19 | 95 | 293 | -179 | -86 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 21 | 84 | 269 | -164 | -58 | 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.