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 | 80 | 24 | 344 | -240 | -793 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 70 | 26 | 304 | -208 | -598 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 36 | 21 | 292 | -234 | -716 | 3 |
| FY2018 | 36 | 18 | 350 | -296 | -650 | 1 |
| FY2019 | 41 | 23 | 343 | -280 | -663 | -7 |
| FY2020 | 36 | 24 | 345 | -286 | -625 | -9 |
| FY2021 | 95 | — | — | 95 | -2,357 | -15 |
| FY2022 | 39 | — | — | 39 | -1,544 | -21 |
| FY2023 | 28 | — | — | 28 | -668 | 0 |
| FY2024 | 21 | — | — | 21 | -80 | 2 |
| FY2025 | 19 | — | — | 19 | 54 | 9 |
| FY2026 | 16 | — | — | 16 | -26 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.