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 | 63 | 196 | 129 | 130 | 44 | 12 |
| FY2016 | 58 | 175 | 157 | 75 | 36 | 16 |
| FY2017 | 59 | 213 | 185 | 87 | 38 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 68 | 190 | 178 | 80 | 41 | 21 |
| FY2019 | 66 | 184 | 144 | 107 | 64 | 20 |
| FY2020 | 54 | 182 | 144 | 92 | 44 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 74 | 175 | 184 | 65 | 44 | 11 |
| FY2022 | 63 | 155 | 142 | 75 | 44 | 17 |
| FY2023 | 55 | 113 | 115 | 53 | 27 | 25 |
| FY2024 | 56 | 114 | 104 | 66 | 21 | 28 |
| FY2025 | 60 | 116 | 101 | 75 | 29 | 26 |
| FY2026 | 68 | 111 | 121 | 58 | 1 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.