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 | 158 | 147 | 160 | 145 | 76 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 171 | 155 | 209 | 117 | 77 | 6 |
| FY2017 | 166 | 120 | 149 | 138 | 63 | 15 |
| FY2018 | 256 | 182 | 203 | 235 | 57 | 9 |
| FY2019 | 161 | 109 | 114 | 156 | 55 | 8 |
| FY2020 | 218 | 153 | 161 | 210 | 73 | 8 |
| FY2021 | 205 | 147 | 179 | 173 | 94 | 9 |
| FY2022 | 164 | 104 | 129 | 139 | 60 | 10 |
| FY2023 | 166 | 93 | 118 | 141 | 68 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 174 | 109 | 95 | 188 | 119 | 15 |
| FY2025 | 85 | 118 | 109 | 94 | 34 | 28 |
| FY2026 | 129 | 133 | 62 | 200 | 80 | 23 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.