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 | 91 | 86 | 107 | 70 | 128 | 1 |
| FY2016 | 93 | 83 | 91 | 86 | -15 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 109 | 157 | 176 | 90 | -23 | 5 |
| FY2018 | 72 | 135 | 104 | 103 | -107 | 4 |
| FY2019 | 64 | 191 | 173 | 82 | -175 | 1 |
| FY2020 | 78 | 209 | 160 | 128 | -178 | 2 |
| FY2021 | 96 | 210 | 178 | 129 | -186 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 80 | 289 | 231 | 138 | -99 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 99 | 412 | 244 | 267 | -267 | 4 |
| FY2024 | 78 | 1,034 | 411 | 702 | -275 | 5 |
| FY2025 | 38 | 166 | 108 | 95 | -62 | 5 |
| FY2026 | 34 | 179 | 150 | 63 | -84 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.