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 | 54 | 176 | 75 | 155 | 55 | 5 |
| FY2016 | 87 | 471 | 248 | 310 | 57 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 50 | 182 | 150 | 82 | 38 | 6 |
| FY2018 | 79 | 213 | 148 | 145 | 3 | -8 |
| FY2019 | 81 | 203 | 209 | 75 | 62 | 1 |
| FY2020 | 52 | 119 | 111 | 60 | 96 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 136 | 142 | 146 | 131 | 90 | 5 |
| FY2022 | 58 | 176 | 153 | 81 | 48 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 37 | 78 | 55 | 60 | 20 | 18 |
| FY2024 | 50 | 64 | 39 | 75 | 61 | 25 |
| FY2025 | 63 | 65 | 29 | 99 | 58 | 17 |
| FY2026 | 72 | 92 | 52 | 113 | 76 | 11 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.