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 | 0 | 77 | 9 | 68 | 16 | -1 |
| FY2016 | 0 | 87 | 14 | 73 | 24 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 0 | 96 | 27 | 69 | 21 | 15 |
| FY2018 | 0 | 140 | 17 | 123 | 22 | 16 |
| FY2019 | 1 | 143 | 21 | 122 | 25 | 17 |
| FY2020 | 0 | 139 | 9 | 130 | 34 | 21 |
| FY2021 | 1 | 149 | 3 | 146 | 52 | 25 |
| FY2022 | 0 | 139 | 1 | 138 | 53 | 11 |
| FY2023 | 0 | 127 | 3 | 125 | 38 | 17 |
| FY2024 | 0 | 127 | 2 | 125 | 36 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 1 | 164 | 3 | 162 | 54 | 14 |
| FY2026 | 1 | 144 | 1 | 144 | 36 | 25 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.