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 | 80 | 5 | 126 | -41 | -11 | — |
| FY2016 | 77 | 64 | 152 | -11 | -16 | 32 |
| FY2017 | 92 | 76 | 137 | 31 | 11 | 32 |
| FY2018 | 108 | 65 | 103 | 71 | 73 | 28 |
| FY2019 | 111 | 71 | 123 | 59 | 118 | 16 |
| FY2020 | 114 | 65 | 171 | 7 | 145 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 127 | 34 | 152 | 9 | 65 | 11 |
| FY2022 | 119 | 148 | 216 | 51 | 95 | 12 |
| FY2023 | 132 | 239 | 208 | 162 | 136 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 116 | 266 | 136 | 245 | 131 | 6 |
| FY2025 | 113 | 268 | 151 | 229 | 127 | 6 |
| FY2026 | 114 | 285 | 155 | 244 | 156 | 5 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.