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 | 6 | 169 | 81 | 94 | 59 | 35 |
| FY2016 | 6 | 198 | 74 | 131 | 74 | 27 |
| FY2017 | 6 | 189 | 30 | 165 | 42 | 23 |
| FY2018 | 7 | 185 | 27 | 164 | 60 | 25 |
| FY2019 | 8 | 178 | 23 | 163 | 55 | 26 |
| FY2020 | 5 | 195 | 14 | 186 | 69 | 24 |
| FY2021 | 6 | 187 | 18 | 176 | 36 | 13 |
| FY2022 | 7 | 230 | 22 | 215 | 68 | 21 |
| FY2023 | 6 | 199 | 15 | 191 | 51 | 25 |
| FY2024 | 7 | 176 | 13 | 171 | 42 | 23 |
| FY2025 | 6 | 217 | 15 | 208 | 35 | 19 |
| FY2026 | 4 | 222 | 15 | 211 | 28 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.