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 | 119 | 135 | 153 | 102 | -91 | 57 |
| FY2016 | 132 | 149 | 188 | 92 | 6 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 132 | 209 | 221 | 120 | -122 | 11 |
| FY2018 | 113 | 146 | 188 | 71 | -4 | 16 |
| FY2019 | 165 | 294 | 299 | 160 | -70 | 2 |
| FY2020 | 124 | 254 | 259 | 119 | -70 | 5 |
| FY2021 | 122 | 329 | 323 | 128 | -22 | 8 |
| FY2022 | 144 | 285 | 260 | 168 | -28 | -5 |
| FY2023 | 129 | 257 | 220 | 165 | -11 | 0 |
| FY2024 | 107 | 235 | 178 | 164 | -19 | 7 |
| FY2025 | 96 | 236 | 190 | 141 | 24 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 97 | 305 | 244 | 157 | 38 | 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.