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 | 22 | 93 | 137 | -22 | -197 | -15 |
| FY2016 | 27 | 86 | 176 | -63 | -281 | -14 |
| FY2017 | 31 | 51 | 139 | -57 | -207 | -3 |
| FY2018 | 44 | 57 | 215 | -114 | -433 | -53 |
| FY2019 | 23 | 172 | 280 | -85 | -649 | -182 |
| FY2020 | 10 | 151 | 243 | -82 | -247 | — |
| FY2021 | 10 | 208 | 229 | -12 | -131 | 16 |
| FY2022 | 16 | 148 | 145 | 19 | -119 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 8 | 118 | 120 | 6 | -94 | 9 |
| FY2024 | 20 | 181 | 202 | -1 | -84 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 15 | 144 | 163 | -5 | -100 | 11 |
| FY2026 | 11 | 128 | 122 | 17 | -138 | -3 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.