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 | 63 | 84 | 60 | 87 | 62 | 18 |
| FY2016 | 62 | 105 | 89 | 78 | 41 | 23 |
| FY2017 | 65 | 115 | 96 | 84 | 65 | 26 |
| FY2018 | 54 | 93 | 90 | 57 | 54 | 24 |
| FY2019 | 52 | 85 | 80 | 56 | 53 | 22 |
| FY2020 | 42 | 102 | 87 | 56 | 48 | 23 |
| FY2021 | 47 | 150 | 107 | 90 | 71 | 26 |
| FY2022 | 50 | 109 | 79 | 80 | 66 | 22 |
| FY2023 | 47 | 90 | 64 | 73 | 59 | 20 |
| FY2024 | 42 | 84 | 47 | 79 | 86 | 24 |
| FY2025 | 54 | 104 | 51 | 107 | 92 | 24 |
| FY2026 | 58 | 93 | 59 | 92 | 71 | 24 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.