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 | 68 | 307 | 178 | 197 | -7 | 23 |
| FY2016 | 87 | 370 | 207 | 251 | 37 | 18 |
| FY2017 | 83 | 307 | 197 | 193 | -4 | 20 |
| FY2018 | 108 | 338 | 234 | 212 | -31 | 10 |
| FY2019 | 112 | 366 | 192 | 285 | 31 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 105 | 311 | 142 | 274 | 51 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 99 | 378 | 167 | 310 | 51 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 99 | 315 | 158 | 255 | 47 | 17 |
| FY2023 | 95 | 360 | 194 | 261 | 40 | 16 |
| FY2024 | 85 | 338 | 194 | 229 | 55 | 17 |
| FY2025 | 91 | 348 | 210 | 228 | 65 | 20 |
| FY2026 | 97 | 363 | 232 | 228 | 54 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.