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 | 71 | 73 | 78 | 65 | -3 | 10 |
| FY2016 | 77 | 74 | 67 | 84 | 15 | 10 |
| FY2017 | 59 | 68 | 41 | 87 | 14 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 86 | 87 | 34 | 139 | 32 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 69 | 92 | 36 | 125 | -47 | 0 |
| FY2020 | 81 | 116 | 93 | 104 | -147 | -16 |
| FY2021 | 54 | 145 | 32 | 167 | -169 | -2 |
| FY2022 | 48 | 86 | 27 | 106 | -82 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 37 | 43 | 16 | 64 | -86 | -13 |
| FY2024 | 30 | 45 | 23 | 52 | -111 | -18 |
| FY2025 | 31 | 48 | 61 | 18 | 23 | -2 |
| FY2026 | 46 | 60 | 66 | 41 | 31 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.