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 | 71 | 157 | 7 | 222 | 15 | 11 |
| FY2014 | 109 | 127 | 34 | 202 | -72 | 4 |
| FY2015 | 134 | 275 | 51 | 358 | 110 | 2 |
| FY2016 | 170 | 385 | 51 | 504 | 85 | 1 |
| FY2017 | 202 | 174 | 32 | 343 | -96 | -12 |
| FY2018 | 61 | 40 | 40 | 62 | -768 | -8 |
| FY2019 | 36 | 152 | 251 | -64 | -2,040 | -4 |
| FY2020 | 78 | 193 | 551 | -280 | -4,496 | -5 |
| FY2021 | 121 | 738 | 420 | 439 | 36 | -13 |
| FY2022 | 49 | 145 | 97 | 97 | 9 | -8 |
| FY2023 | 4 | 44 | 70 | -22 | -60 | -14 |
| FY2024 | 1 | 19 | 106 | -86 | -260 | -15 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.