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 | 115 | 30 | 71 | 74 | 95 | — |
| FY2016 | 159 | 28 | 156 | 31 | 89 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 102 | 12 | 41 | 73 | 51 | 15 |
| FY2018 | 137 | 13 | 125 | 24 | 62 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 101 | 4 | 82 | 23 | 69 | 22 |
| FY2020 | 115 | 6 | 105 | 16 | 86 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 114 | 6 | 154 | -34 | 113 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 117 | 12 | 308 | -179 | 109 | 11 |
| FY2023 | 123 | 12 | 438 | -304 | 96 | 16 |
| FY2024 | 119 | 8 | 232 | -105 | 108 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 109 | 10 | 132 | -13 | 73 | 22 |
| FY2026 | 122 | 7 | 188 | -59 | 87 | 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.