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 | 20 | 139 | 80 | 80 | -62 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 19 | 135 | 101 | 53 | -118 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 14 | — | — | 14 | -38 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 17 | — | — | 17 | -26 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 15 | — | — | 15 | -29 | 4 |
| FY2020 | 10 | — | — | 10 | -19 | 3 |
| FY2021 | 18 | — | — | 18 | -63 | -19 |
| FY2022 | 16 | — | — | 16 | -15 | 22 |
| FY2023 | 34 | 162 | 238 | -42 | -5 | 9 |
| FY2024 | 23 | 56 | 116 | -37 | 24 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 27 | 109 | 105 | 31 | -29 | 6 |
| FY2026 | 41 | 102 | 73 | 71 | 16 | 0 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.