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 | 108 | 110 | 131 | 87 | 25 | 7 |
| FY2016 | 112 | 281 | 193 | 200 | 33 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 120 | 221 | 185 | 157 | 38 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 109 | 196 | 155 | 150 | 52 | 22 |
| FY2019 | 102 | 315 | 207 | 210 | 63 | 24 |
| FY2020 | 122 | 229 | 178 | 173 | 73 | 33 |
| FY2021 | 104 | 214 | 223 | 94 | 75 | 28 |
| FY2022 | 92 | 198 | 131 | 159 | 84 | 31 |
| FY2023 | 83 | 201 | 161 | 123 | 70 | 21 |
| FY2024 | 89 | 194 | 126 | 156 | 82 | 28 |
| FY2025 | 89 | 209 | 130 | 168 | 86 | 22 |
| FY2026 | 100 | 234 | 181 | 153 | 92 | 19 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.