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 | 45 | 219 | 123 | 140 | 87 | 28 |
| FY2016 | 49 | 225 | 126 | 147 | 98 | 26 |
| FY2017 | 66 | 206 | 147 | 125 | 87 | 22 |
| FY2018 | 70 | 232 | 160 | 142 | 82 | 23 |
| FY2019 | 84 | 227 | 57 | 253 | 146 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 132 | 434 | 87 | 479 | 255 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 185 | 954 | 150 | 988 | 508 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 65 | 1,465 | 4 | 1,526 | 554 | -1 |
| FY2023 | 63 | 1,012 | 3 | 1,072 | 355 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 110 | 3,044 | 7 | 3,147 | 954 | -2 |
| FY2025 | 57 | 1,373 | 3 | 1,428 | 796 | 7 |
| FY2026 | 69 | 1,015 | 2 | 1,082 | 755 | 10 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.