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 | 11 | 39 | 121 | -72 | -35 | 22 |
| FY2016 | 10 | 35 | 107 | -62 | -36 | 11 |
| FY2017 | 16 | 48 | 142 | -79 | -28 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 14 | 36 | 151 | -100 | -31 | 14 |
| FY2019 | 24 | 32 | 197 | -141 | -26 | 16 |
| FY2020 | 22 | 55 | 202 | -124 | -18 | 16 |
| FY2021 | 25 | 36 | 190 | -130 | -17 | 11 |
| FY2022 | 15 | 28 | 121 | -78 | -16 | 23 |
| FY2023 | 16 | 43 | 182 | -123 | 73 | 24 |
| FY2024 | 20 | 53 | 180 | -107 | 43 | 19 |
| FY2025 | 19 | 52 | 170 | -100 | 19 | 19 |
| FY2026 | 22 | 67 | 162 | -73 | 8 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.