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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2013 | 39 | 174 | 26 | 187 | -1 | 13 |
| FY2016 | 37 | 206 | 11 | 232 | -45 | — |
| FY2017 | 39 | 264 | 17 | 285 | -35 | 4 |
| FY2018 | 43 | 175 | 9 | 209 | -33 | 2 |
| FY2019 | 55 | 249 | 32 | 272 | -65 | 2 |
| FY2020 | 52 | 288 | 30 | 310 | -88 | 0 |
| FY2021 | 68 | 204 | 23 | 250 | -112 | 0 |
| FY2022 | 55 | 264 | 19 | 300 | -58 | 3 |
| FY2023 | 67 | 287 | 12 | 342 | -49 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 71 | 232 | 17 | 286 | -55 | 1 |
| FY2025 | 74 | 213 | 21 | 267 | -56 | 0 |
| FY2026 | 83 | 231 | 14 | 300 | -66 | 2 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.