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 | 30 | 195 | 28 | 198 | 14 | 7 |
| FY2016 | 30 | 202 | 50 | 183 | 13 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 30 | 256 | 46 | 239 | 11 | 3 |
| FY2018 | 35 | 207 | 36 | 206 | 49 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 33 | 194 | 33 | 194 | 34 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 31 | 264 | 50 | 246 | 36 | 3 |
| FY2021 | 28 | 217 | 48 | 197 | 43 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 23 | 203 | 26 | 200 | 33 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 15 | 273 | 11 | 277 | 62 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 17 | 262 | 13 | 267 | 70 | 3 |
| FY2025 | 22 | 232 | 17 | 237 | 75 | 4 |
| FY2026 | 18 | 235 | 11 | 242 | 80 | 5 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.