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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2008 | 58 | 40 | 94 | 4 | 83 | 6 |
| FY2009 | 64 | 48 | 128 | -16 | 88 | 0 |
| FY2010 | 50 | 44 | 92 | 2 | 80 | 8 |
| FY2011 | 32 | 41 | 42 | 30 | -86 | 8 |
| FY2012 | 49 | 45 | 54 | 40 | -67 | 9 |
| FY2013 | 36 | 40 | 51 | 26 | -63 | 4 |
| FY2014 | 42 | 37 | 49 | 31 | -54 | 9 |
| FY2015 | 39 | 58 | 59 | 39 | -44 | 10 |
| FY2016 | 18 | 32 | 38 | 11 | -15 | 10 |
| FY2017 | 18 | 23 | 43 | -1 | -3 | 11 |
| FY2018 | 36 | 45 | 86 | -6 | -2 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 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.