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 | 317 | 59 | 279 | 58 | 62 |
| FY2016 | 21 | 288 | 50 | 259 | 61 | 62 |
| FY2017 | 19 | 264 | 47 | 236 | 57 | 60 |
| FY2018 | 21 | 191 | 46 | 166 | 37 | 64 |
| FY2019 | 16 | 229 | 37 | 207 | 55 | 69 |
| FY2020 | 9 | 200 | 26 | 183 | 42 | 53 |
| FY2021 | 18 | 160 | 72 | 106 | 10 | 48 |
| FY2022 | 16 | 208 | 77 | 146 | 33 | 67 |
| FY2023 | 11 | 279 | 50 | 240 | 59 | 54 |
| FY2024 | 13 | 205 | 32 | 185 | 49 | 45 |
| FY2025 | 14 | 147 | 44 | 118 | 19 | 59 |
| FY2026 | 14 | 178 | 55 | 138 | 26 | 64 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.