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 | 141 | 13 | 231 | -77 | -76 | 14 |
| FY2016 | 166 | 23 | 346 | -156 | -40 | 15 |
| FY2017 | 104 | 20 | 250 | -125 | -85 | 15 |
| FY2018 | 116 | 27 | 330 | -188 | -3 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 123 | 19 | 268 | -126 | -14 | 11 |
| FY2020 | 100 | 20 | 200 | -80 | 5 | 9 |
| FY2021 | 651 | 155 | 842 | -36 | 15 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 468 | 153 | 715 | -94 | 32 | 1 |
| FY2023 | 190 | 549 | 2,581 | -1,842 | 25 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 112 | 136 | 1,317 | -1,070 | 30 | 4 |
| FY2025 | 187 | 287 | 2,735 | -2,261 | 131 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 216 | 63 | 318 | -39 | 159 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.