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 | 164 | 5,038 | 1,872 | 3,331 | 769 | 7 |
| FY2016 | 301 | 9,869 | 4,134 | 6,036 | 1,244 | -4 |
| FY2017 | 338 | 2,870 | 1,054 | 2,153 | 1,334 | -2 |
| FY2018 | 214 | 3,030 | 964 | 2,279 | 1,049 | 0 |
| FY2019 | 294 | 4,744 | 1,654 | 3,383 | 1,180 | -2 |
| FY2020 | 141 | 5,939 | 2,389 | 3,691 | 505 | -5 |
| FY2021 | 465 | 5,728 | 2,151 | 4,041 | -5 | -1 |
| FY2022 | 496 | 5,306 | 1,984 | 3,818 | -775 | 0 |
| FY2023 | 637 | — | — | 637 | -3,878 | 1 |
| FY2024 | 521 | — | — | 521 | -6,257 | -18 |
| FY2025 | 682 | — | — | 682 | -12,409 | -48 |
| FY2026 | 438 | 3,911 | 1,608 | 2,741 | -9,916 | — |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.