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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 73 | 123 | 112 | 85 | 5 | — |
| FY2018 | 125 | 54 | 144 | 34 | 65 | 58 |
| FY2019 | 130 | 368 | 426 | 72 | 53 | 33 |
| FY2020 | 102 | 297 | 315 | 84 | 23 | 39 |
| FY2021 | 251 | 446 | 343 | 354 | 75 | 15 |
| FY2022 | 256 | 311 | 208 | 359 | 117 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 200 | 353 | 222 | 331 | 123 | 19 |
| FY2024 | 183 | 318 | 204 | 296 | 93 | 15 |
| FY2025 | 146 | 568 | 331 | 382 | 54 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 262 | — | — | 262 | 74 | -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.