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 | 72 | 106 | 235 | -57 | 15 | 5 |
| FY2016 | 73 | 54 | 150 | -23 | -25 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 129 | 53 | 243 | -60 | -17 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 102 | 55 | 236 | -79 | 26 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 76 | 85 | 283 | -122 | -11 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 13 | 142 | 703 | -549 | 47 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 27 | 148 | 946 | -772 | -41 | 8 |
| FY2022 | 62 | 187 | 1,170 | -922 | -47 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 79 | 98 | 2,018 | -1,841 | -89 | 5 |
| FY2024 | 52 | — | — | 52 | -60 | 2 |
| FY2025 | 48 | — | — | 48 | -319 | 10 |
| FY2026 | 105 | 2 | 424 | -317 | 69 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.