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 | 20 | 53 | 165 | -92 | -216 | -16 |
| FY2016 | 38 | 47 | 130 | -44 | -112 | 5 |
| FY2017 | 24 | 114 | 170 | -32 | -88 | 1 |
| FY2018 | 20 | 77 | 90 | 7 | -114 | -1 |
| FY2019 | 21 | 139 | 105 | 55 | -99 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 35 | 140 | 130 | 44 | -239 | -2 |
| FY2021 | 38 | 213 | 182 | 68 | -387 | -5 |
| FY2022 | 274 | 1,324 | 1,159 | 439 | -3,889 | 0 |
| FY2023 | 64 | 80 | 117 | 27 | 152 | 0 |
| FY2024 | 30 | 84 | 100 | 15 | -214 | 1 |
| FY2025 | 40 | 99 | 90 | 49 | -525 | 2 |
| FY2026 | 65 | 117 | 232 | -50 | -812 | 1 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.