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 | 156 | 72 | 117 | 111 | 82 | 27 |
| FY2016 | 185 | 74 | 179 | 81 | 95 | 36 |
| FY2017 | 175 | 117 | 186 | 106 | 99 | 32 |
| FY2018 | 191 | 169 | 202 | 158 | 94 | 27 |
| FY2019 | 148 | 96 | 167 | 77 | 71 | 23 |
| FY2020 | 180 | 100 | 180 | 100 | 101 | 18 |
| FY2021 | 177 | 117 | 180 | 114 | 94 | 21 |
| FY2022 | 157 | 130 | 172 | 115 | 88 | 26 |
| FY2023 | 165 | 145 | 176 | 134 | 97 | 21 |
| FY2024 | 173 | 155 | 144 | 184 | 128 | 4 |
| FY2025 | 165 | 117 | 158 | 124 | 92 | 16 |
| FY2026 | 166 | 121 | 162 | 125 | 102 | 30 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.