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 | 104 | 192 | 151 | 145 | 29 | 12.07 |
| FY2016 | 53.13 | 149 | 24.82 | 177 | 16.24 | 10.92 |
| FY2017 | 90.35 | 158 | 108 | 140 | 37.29 | 9.57 |
| FY2018 | 100 | 152 | 143 | 109 | 41.48 | 9.44 |
| FY2019 | 82.43 | 100 | 145 | 37.38 | 16.82 | 11.77 |
| FY2020 | 68.71 | 118 | 156 | 30.70 | 11.24 | 8.94 |
| FY2021 | 175 | 169 | 124 | 220 | -87.22 | 3.24 |
| FY2022 | 144 | 136 | 61.88 | 218 | -109 | 1.58 |
| FY2023 | 208 | 280 | 167 | 321 | -43.19 | 1.80 |
| FY2024 | 321 | 4.92 | 7.87 | 318 | 358 | -40.58 |
| FY2025 | 279 | 34.76 | 69.52 | 244 | 1,524 | -25.11 |
| FY2026 | 178 | 0 | — | 178 | 730 | -32.14 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.