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 | 50 | 90 | 122 | 18 | -96 | -48 |
| FY2016 | 97 | 164 | 193 | 68 | -56 | 11 |
| FY2017 | 104 | 168 | 233 | 39 | -155 | 53 |
| FY2018 | 134 | 216 | 180 | 170 | -100 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 137 | 355 | 265 | 227 | -328 | -8 |
| FY2020 | 168 | 400 | 253 | 315 | -1,465 | -48 |
| FY2021 | 130 | 503 | 366 | 266 | 84 | 10 |
| FY2022 | 76 | 186 | 155 | 107 | 16 | 21 |
| FY2023 | 72 | 176 | 86 | 162 | 66 | 20 |
| FY2024 | 102 | 210 | 165 | 148 | 103 | 25 |
| FY2025 | 130 | 171 | 156 | 145 | 73 | 33 |
| FY2026 | 137 | 152 | 172 | 117 | 84 | 34 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.