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 | 196 | 405 | 252 | 349 | 318 | 5 |
| FY2016 | 148 | 238 | 205 | 181 | 51 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 160 | 129 | 77 | 212 | 74 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 134 | 179 | 98 | 215 | 256 | 12 |
| FY2019 | 252 | 143 | 129 | 266 | 304 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 351 | 452 | 134 | 669 | 580 | -11 |
| FY2021 | 236 | 290 | 125 | 401 | 385 | 2 |
| FY2022 | 189 | 327 | 131 | 384 | 552 | -7 |
| FY2023 | 198 | 421 | 196 | 423 | 491 | -1 |
| FY2024 | 208 | 861 | 424 | 645 | 206 | 4 |
| FY2025 | 182 | 132 | 66 | 248 | 56 | 15 |
| FY2026 | 1,077 | 1,160 | 227 | 2,010 | 211 | -15 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.