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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014Dec | 14 | 77 | 48 | 43 | -99 | 7 |
| 2015Dec | 11 | 90 | 39 | 62 | -73 | 12 |
| 2016Dec | 12 | 103 | 58 | 58 | -89 | 16 |
| 2017Dec | 14 | 88 | 38 | 64 | -65 | 12 |
| 2018Dec | 9 | 94 | 52 | 52 | -50 | 15 |
| 2019Dec | 9 | 100 | 54 | 55 | -37 | 18 |
| 2020Dec | 14 | 123 | 68 | 69 | -47 | 11 |
| 2021Dec | 9 | 131 | 64 | 76 | -34 | 17 |
| 2022Dec | 8 | 116 | 48 | 76 | -24 | 27 |
| 2023Dec | 8 | 106 | 37 | 77 | -9 | 29 |
| 2024Dec | 15 | 114 | 64 | 66 | 16 | 25 |
| 2025Dec | 21 | 111 | 53 | 79 | 31 | 20 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.