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 | 3 | 51 | 15 | 40 | 9 | 6 |
| FY2016 | 1 | 53 | 22 | 32 | 12 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 3 | 50 | 25 | 28 | 6 | 9 |
| FY2018 | 1 | 39 | 15 | 24 | -14 | 13 |
| FY2019 | 1 | 44 | 21 | 23 | 11 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 1 | 43 | 22 | 22 | 12 | 13 |
| FY2021 | 2 | 69 | 35 | 35 | 21 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 1 | 53 | 26 | 28 | 16 | 7 |
| FY2023 | 1 | 35 | 19 | 17 | 6 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 1 | 28 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 9 |
| FY2025 | 1 | 20 | 16 | 5 | -2 | 7 |
| FY2026 | 1 | 15 | 22 | -6 | -12 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.