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 | 77 | 56 | 28 | 105 | -34 | 6 |
| FY2016 | 84 | 66 | 74 | 77 | -80 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 88 | 72 | 123 | 37 | -57 | 11 |
| FY2018 | 74 | 68 | 88 | 54 | -34 | 17 |
| FY2019 | 68 | 73 | 81 | 60 | -1 | 25 |
| FY2020 | 66 | 54 | 70 | 51 | -4 | 16 |
| FY2021 | 97 | 101 | 134 | 64 | 15 | 17 |
| FY2022 | 91 | 70 | 106 | 55 | 17 | 18 |
| FY2023 | 70 | 48 | 80 | 38 | 4 | 17 |
| FY2024 | 97 | 82 | 147 | 32 | -11 | 14 |
| FY2025 | 78 | 80 | 100 | 57 | -24 | 12 |
| FY2026 | 62 | 65 | 92 | 35 | -40 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.