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 | 157 | 31 | 39 | 149 | 124 | 39 |
| FY2016 | 97 | 81 | 18 | 160 | 137 | 37 |
| FY2017 | 75 | — | — | 75 | 129 | 43 |
| FY2018 | 73 | — | — | 73 | 55 | 43 |
| FY2019 | 319 | — | — | 319 | 310 | 2 |
| FY2020 | 729 | — | — | 729 | 894 | 3 |
| FY2021 | 1,301 | — | — | 1,301 | 2,188 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 79 | — | — | 79 | -145 | 0 |
| FY2023 | 74 | — | — | 74 | -53 | 3 |
| FY2024 | 75 | — | — | 75 | -6 | 7 |
| FY2025 | 39 | 292 | 284 | 47 | 4 | 6 |
| FY2026 | 29 | 263 | 276 | 16 | -5 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.