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 | 26 | 266 | 154 | 138 | -82 | 12 |
| FY2016 | 28 | 203 | 142 | 89 | -83 | 13 |
| FY2017 | 25 | 195 | 150 | 70 | -38 | 14 |
| FY2018 | 26 | 226 | 165 | 87 | -50 | 12 |
| FY2019 | 25 | 214 | 165 | 74 | -48 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 20 | 234 | 188 | 66 | -60 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 21 | 207 | 234 | -6 | -83 | 15 |
| FY2022 | 21 | 256 | 269 | 9 | -56 | 14 |
| FY2023 | 22 | 248 | 271 | 0 | -56 | 13 |
| FY2024 | 22 | 255 | 260 | 17 | -52 | 15 |
| FY2025 | 28 | 255 | 248 | 35 | -64 | 11 |
| FY2026 | 25 | 206 | 217 | 13 | -57 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.