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 | 5 | 30 | 43 | -9 | -38 | 37 |
| FY2016 | 5 | 26 | 50 | -19 | 34 | 32 |
| FY2017 | 7 | 19 | 52 | -25 | 54 | 39 |
| FY2018 | 7 | 20 | 63 | -35 | 3 | 47 |
| FY2019 | 8 | 26 | 58 | -24 | 6 | 55 |
| FY2020 | 2 | 23 | 61 | -36 | 2 | 39 |
| FY2021 | 42 | 29 | 78 | -7 | 13 | 48 |
| FY2022 | 33 | 25 | 53 | 5 | 16 | 50 |
| FY2023 | 33 | 22 | 53 | 2 | 17 | 55 |
| FY2024 | 31 | 23 | 52 | 2 | 12 | 52 |
| FY2025 | 38 | 22 | 61 | -1 | 9 | 56 |
| FY2026 | 37 | 17 | 58 | -3 | 28 | 58 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.