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 | 157 | 42 | 60 | 139 | 2 | 9 |
| FY2016 | 142 | 60 | 70 | 132 | 4 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 102 | 70 | 66 | 106 | -104 | 3 |
| FY2018 | 109 | 98 | 84 | 123 | -24 | 7 |
| FY2019 | 105 | 102 | 98 | 109 | -6 | 8 |
| FY2020 | 105 | 78 | 68 | 116 | -5 | 6 |
| FY2021 | 211 | 147 | 173 | 184 | -13 | -7 |
| FY2022 | 81 | 95 | 97 | 79 | 16 | -3 |
| FY2023 | 59 | 92 | 84 | 67 | 42 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 61 | 65 | 67 | 58 | 56 | 6 |
| FY2025 | 48 | 73 | 70 | 50 | 29 | 2 |
| FY2026 | 56 | 89 | 87 | 58 | 46 | 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.