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 | 60 | 132 | 44 | 149 | 102 | -3 |
| FY2016 | 80 | 149 | 57 | 172 | 73 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 79 | 114 | 58 | 135 | 49 | 2 |
| FY2018 | 78 | 115 | 51 | 142 | 75 | 0 |
| FY2019 | 72 | 146 | 78 | 140 | 43 | -1 |
| FY2020 | 52 | 138 | 66 | 125 | 65 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 63 | 101 | 56 | 107 | 90 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 68 | 120 | 48 | 140 | 82 | -4 |
| FY2023 | 70 | 100 | 40 | 130 | 81 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 87 | 99 | 53 | 133 | 97 | 9 |
| FY2025 | 89 | 97 | 49 | 137 | 79 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 89 | 116 | 56 | 149 | 105 | 18 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.