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 | 70 | 459 | 103 | 426 | 136 | 15 |
| FY2016 | 54 | 408 | 143 | 319 | 113 | 21 |
| FY2017 | 50 | 651 | 108 | 593 | 119 | 20 |
| FY2018 | 75 | 487 | 184 | 379 | 131 | 17 |
| FY2019 | 76 | 1,093 | 251 | 918 | 120 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 56 | 1,707 | 186 | 1,577 | 129 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 88 | 434 | 132 | 390 | 154 | 16 |
| FY2022 | 85 | 664 | 150 | 600 | 153 | 20 |
| FY2023 | 46 | 381 | 78 | 350 | 101 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 90 | 381 | 104 | 367 | 133 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 87 | 645 | 168 | 564 | 151 | 10 |
| FY2026 | 101 | 416 | 148 | 368 | 139 | 12 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.