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 | 21 | 55 | 5 | 71 | -3 | — |
| FY2016 | 36 | 54 | 26 | 64 | 10 | 19 |
| FY2017 | 46 | 84 | 25 | 105 | 39 | 22 |
| FY2018 | 37 | 37 | 5 | 69 | 40 | 20 |
| FY2019 | 47 | 40 | 15 | 72 | 36 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 75 | 61 | 67 | 69 | 33 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 41 | 62 | 43 | 60 | 26 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 50 | 53 | 37 | 67 | 26 | 21 |
| FY2023 | 64 | 58 | 63 | 58 | 35 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 76 | 51 | 88 | 38 | 78 | 12 |
| FY2025 | 85 | 47 | 106 | 26 | 85 | 7 |
| FY2026 | 98 | 45 | 90 | 53 | 91 | 6 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.