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 | 192 | 92 | 167 | 117 | 100 | 19 |
| FY2016 | 142 | 104 | 234 | 12 | 72 | 25 |
| FY2017 | 170 | 915 | 1,462 | -377 | 96 | 17 |
| FY2018 | 196 | 850 | 1,059 | -14 | 100 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 211 | — | — | 211 | 121 | 15 |
| FY2020 | 214 | 2,354 | 1,417 | 1,151 | 153 | 14 |
| FY2021 | 280 | 559 | 400 | 439 | 192 | 12 |
| FY2022 | 195 | 776 | 357 | 615 | 230 | 8 |
| FY2023 | 129 | 907 | 841 | 196 | 136 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 83 | 2,000 | 1,320 | 763 | 87 | 11 |
| FY2025 | 153 | 722 | 675 | 200 | 100 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 212 | 651 | 580 | 283 | 123 | 8 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.