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 | 105 | 69 | 87 | 87 | 82 | 22 |
| 2015Dec | 118 | 68 | 97 | 90 | 91 | 24 |
| 2016Dec | 119 | 77 | 98 | 98 | 102 | 25 |
| 2017Dec | 88 | 69 | 111 | 46 | 59 | 24 |
| 2018Dec | 72 | 84 | 98 | 58 | 58 | 20 |
| 2019Dec | 77 | 77 | 89 | 65 | 63 | 16 |
| 2020Dec | 75 | 91 | 122 | 44 | 51 | 9 |
| 2021Dec | 57 | 124 | 130 | 52 | 55 | 11 |
| 2022Dec | 57 | 92 | 112 | 38 | 41 | 17 |
| 2023Dec | 74 | 105 | 118 | 60 | 65 | 26 |
| 2024Dec | 75 | 87 | 104 | 58 | 62 | 25 |
| 2025Dec | 84 | 92 | 114 | 62 | 69 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.