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 | 3 | 189 | 160 | 33 | -48 | 11 |
| FY2016 | 15 | 222 | 134 | 103 | -17 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 15 | 233 | 152 | 96 | -70 | 13 |
| FY2018 | 24 | 215 | 175 | 63 | -82 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 41 | 182 | 214 | 9 | -101 | 8 |
| FY2020 | 30 | 201 | 172 | 58 | -56 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 38 | 215 | 174 | 79 | -28 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 32 | 185 | 123 | 94 | -5 | 17 |
| FY2023 | 42 | 201 | 140 | 103 | 2 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 67 | 200 | 113 | 154 | 38 | 30 |
| FY2025 | 63 | 337 | 59 | 340 | 94 | 23 |
| FY2026 | 85 | 277 | 57 | 305 | 70 | 18 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.