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 | 208 | 86 | 103 | 191 | 10 | 6 |
| FY2016 | 338 | 96 | 129 | 305 | 6 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 321 | 84 | 212 | 193 | -217 | 3 |
| FY2018 | 395 | 77 | 327 | 145 | -602 | -2 |
| FY2019 | 376 | 110 | 492 | -7 | -1,990 | -3 |
| FY2020 | 896 | 284 | 1,130 | 50 | -5,391 | -7 |
| FY2021 | 1,257 | 319 | 1,525 | 52 | -7,408 | -3 |
| FY2022 | 1,974 | 140 | 672 | 1,442 | -17,230 | -2 |
| FY2023 | 3,230 | 670 | 922 | 2,979 | -27,897 | -8 |
| FY2024 | 5,135 | 1,351 | 1,500 | 4,987 | -48,480 | — |
| FY2025 | 4,586 | 74 | 375 | 4,285 | -43,528 | — |
| FY2026 | 4,663 | 32 | 292 | 4,403 | -7,929 | — |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.