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 | 19 | 43 | 520 | -458 | -51 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 18 | 60 | 502 | -424 | -41 | 17 |
| FY2017 | 18 | 50 | 515 | -448 | -62 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 24 | 45 | 576 | -506 | -68 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 22 | 46 | 562 | -494 | -82 | 18 |
| FY2020 | 20 | 42 | 432 | -370 | -92 | 20 |
| FY2021 | 40 | 354 | 2,879 | -2,485 | -1,122 | -9 |
| FY2022 | 22 | — | — | 22 | -315 | -3 |
| FY2023 | 18 | — | — | 18 | -152 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 14 | — | — | 14 | -106 | 5 |
| FY2025 | 16 | — | — | 16 | -125 | 3 |
| FY2026 | 15 | — | — | 15 | -101 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.