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 | 197 | 152 | 167 | 183 | 129 | 9.34 |
| FY2016 | 30.69 | 96.40 | 18.97 | 108 | 70.22 | 3.21 |
| FY2017 | 79.21 | 129 | 65.36 | 143 | 93.02 | 8.03 |
| FY2018 | 139 | 119 | 113 | 145 | 102 | 7.85 |
| FY2019 | 164 | 189 | 106 | 247 | 186 | 3.51 |
| FY2020 | 613 | 147 | 49.95 | 710 | 732 | -38.05 |
| FY2021 | 1,348 | 952 | 465 | 1,835 | 1,613 | 0.73 |
| FY2022 | 1,189 | 1,948 | 134 | 3,004 | 2,327 | 0.35 |
| FY2023 | 4,967 | 7,081 | 199 | 11,849 | 10,326 | -2.57 |
| FY2024 | 139 | 45.98 | 0 | 185 | 280 | -80.13 |
| FY2025 | — | — | — | — | — | -14.42 |
| FY2026 | 2,707 | 7,665 | 40.56 | 10,332 | 11,041 | -17.81 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.