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 | 1 | 63 | 60 | 5 | -2 | 12 |
| FY2016 | 2 | 62 | 37 | 27 | 11 | 19 |
| FY2017 | 5 | 123 | 100 | 28 | -5 | 19 |
| FY2018 | 23 | 85 | 66 | 41 | 9 | 15 |
| FY2019 | 15 | 94 | 84 | 24 | 4 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 10 | 92 | 83 | 20 | -2 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 20 | 139 | 89 | 69 | 21 | 15 |
| FY2022 | 13 | 121 | 75 | 59 | 29 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 11 | 108 | 70 | 49 | 15 | 19 |
| FY2024 | 20 | 141 | 81 | 80 | 25 | 9 |
| FY2025 | 11 | 149 | 123 | 37 | -1 | 7 |
| FY2026 | 13 | 108 | 83 | 39 | 219 | 12 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.