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 | 95 | 153 | 147 | 101 | -111 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 116 | 164 | 175 | 105 | 65 | 2 |
| FY2017 | 136 | 165 | 208 | 93 | -25 | 1 |
| FY2018 | 111 | 125 | 127 | 110 | 20 | 40 |
| FY2019 | 98 | 134 | 141 | 92 | 33 | 9 |
| FY2020 | 99 | 132 | 133 | 98 | 29 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 93 | 139 | 119 | 112 | 51 | 16 |
| FY2022 | 85 | 160 | 119 | 126 | 54 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 88 | 152 | 107 | 132 | 46 | -3 |
| FY2024 | 89 | 166 | 121 | 135 | 30 | 0 |
| FY2025 | 98 | 169 | 121 | 146 | 74 | 8 |
| FY2026 | 112 | 188 | 140 | 160 | 111 | 13 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.