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 | 125 | 275 | 472 | -71 | 29 | 27 |
| FY2016 | 79 | 314 | 523 | -130 | -1 | 48 |
| FY2017 | 60 | 318 | 356 | 21 | 28 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 77 | 429 | 447 | 59 | -80 | 13 |
| FY2019 | 68 | 318 | 345 | 42 | -62 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 76 | 362 | 345 | 93 | -52 | 15 |
| FY2021 | 69 | 456 | 351 | 174 | -5 | 17 |
| FY2022 | 70 | 368 | 250 | 188 | 7 | 19 |
| FY2023 | 74 | 298 | 224 | 147 | -33 | 20 |
| FY2024 | 63 | 310 | 284 | 89 | -27 | 23 |
| FY2025 | 59 | 334 | 239 | 154 | 7 | 27 |
| FY2026 | 79 | 338 | 254 | 163 | -26 | 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.