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 | 20 | 142 | 41 | 120 | -28 | 11 |
| FY2016 | 25 | 191 | 47 | 169 | -15 | 9 |
| FY2017 | 30 | 127 | 28 | 128 | -5 | 10 |
| FY2018 | 37 | 148 | 27 | 158 | -4 | 9 |
| FY2019 | 46 | 152 | 28 | 169 | 9 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 21 | 156 | 34 | 143 | -22 | 10 |
| FY2021 | 36 | 185 | 54 | 167 | -10 | 10 |
| FY2022 | 27 | 143 | 50 | 121 | 13 | 23 |
| FY2023 | 16 | 117 | 58 | 75 | 12 | 12 |
| FY2024 | 22 | 147 | 50 | 119 | 25 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 16 | 126 | 34 | 107 | 30 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 13 | 128 | 39 | 103 | 16 | 10 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.