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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2013 | 818 | 12 | 21 | 809 | 699 | -3 |
| FY2014 | 68 | 10 | 76 | 2 | -104 | -8 |
| FY2015 | 96 | 14 | 130 | -21 | -128 | -6 |
| FY2018 | 77 | 13 | 163 | -73 | 30 | — |
| FY2019 | 23 | 17 | 9 | 31 | -133 | -175 |
| FY2020 | 14 | 18 | 28 | 4 | -136 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 18 | 20 | 40 | -2 | -114 | 24 |
| FY2022 | 20 | 25 | 53 | -8 | -92 | 15 |
| FY2023 | 25 | 22 | 43 | 4 | -68 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 40 | 22 | 39 | 23 | -70 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 29 | 40 | 27 | 43 | -63 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 25 | 29 | 29 | 26 | -40 | 19 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.