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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2007 | 96 | 155 | 160 | 91 | 221 | 14 |
| FY2016 | 136 | 113 | 72 | 176 | 36 | — |
| FY2017 | 137 | 199 | 0 | 336 | 20 | 10 |
| FY2018 | 128 | 231 | 159 | 201 | 44 | 14 |
| FY2019 | 114 | 270 | 183 | 201 | 76 | 19 |
| FY2020 | 125 | 209 | 148 | 187 | 85 | 18 |
| FY2021 | 107 | 283 | 151 | 239 | 104 | 18 |
| FY2022 | 96 | 234 | 102 | 228 | 109 | 16 |
| FY2023 | 96 | 292 | 112 | 277 | 75 | 12 |
| FY2024 | 87 | 211 | 123 | 175 | 67 | 13 |
| FY2025 | 89 | 246 | 148 | 187 | 72 | 16 |
| FY2026 | 72 | 221 | 117 | 177 | 71 | 24 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.