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 | 17 | 100 | 117 | 0 | -318 | -1 |
| FY2016 | 48 | 69 | 80 | 37 | -477 | -5 |
| FY2017 | 33 | 107 | 85 | 55 | -495 | -3 |
| FY2018 | 12 | 29 | 30 | 12 | -457 | -2 |
| FY2019 | 9 | 35 | 39 | 5 | -784 | -5 |
| FY2020 | 5 | 24 | 86 | -57 | -1,875 | -7 |
| FY2021 | 0 | 20 | 50 | -30 | -1,508 | -7 |
| FY2022 | 0 | 15 | 32 | -17 | -1,338 | -6 |
| FY2023 | 0 | 8 | 46 | -38 | -975 | -7 |
| FY2024 | 0 | 7 | 41 | -34 | -983 | -7 |
| FY2025 | 1 | 12 | 37 | -24 | -1,148 | -5 |
| FY2026 | 0 | 15 | 18 | -3 | -421 | -6 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.