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 | 81 | 79 | 68 | 92 | -36 | 11 |
| FY2016 | 75 | 66 | 59 | 82 | -27 | 21 |
| FY2017 | 85 | 75 | 70 | 89 | -16 | 20 |
| FY2018 | 76 | 59 | 61 | 74 | -18 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 53 | 50 | 40 | 63 | -14 | 18 |
| FY2020 | 64 | 51 | 50 | 65 | -4 | 19 |
| FY2021 | 78 | 55 | 53 | 80 | 22 | 23 |
| FY2022 | 74 | 56 | 79 | 50 | 26 | 40 |
| FY2023 | 56 | 57 | 63 | 50 | 15 | 27 |
| FY2024 | 63 | 45 | 68 | 40 | 15 | 18 |
| FY2025 | 71 | 68 | 81 | 59 | 22 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 81 | 54 | 72 | 62 | 12 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.