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 | 100 | 874 | 902 | 72 | -109 | — |
| FY2016 | 90 | 697 | 591 | 196 | -6 | -1 |
| FY2017 | 106 | 445 | 472 | 79 | 23 | 0 |
| FY2018 | 62 | 257 | 321 | -1 | 59 | 1 |
| FY2019 | 54 | — | — | 54 | 189 | -12 |
| FY2020 | 31 | — | — | 31 | 94 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 24 | 683 | 591 | 116 | -12 | 4 |
| FY2022 | 45 | 509 | 419 | 135 | 124 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 57 | 389 | 360 | 86 | 238 | 4 |
| FY2024 | 52 | 834 | 586 | 300 | 380 | 2 |
| FY2025 | 78 | 648 | 292 | 434 | 488 | 2 |
| FY2026 | 66 | 286 | 149 | 203 | 413 | 4 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.