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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014Sep | 231 | 394 | 255 | 371 | 51 | 0 |
| FY2016 | 180 | 266 | 94 | 353 | 33 | 3 |
| FY2017 | 330 | 410 | 186 | 554 | 18 | 2 |
| FY2018 | 339 | 384 | 214 | 508 | 155 | 6 |
| FY2019 | 231 | 640 | 311 | 560 | -22 | 10 |
| FY2020 | 243 | 1,030 | 383 | 891 | 47 | 4 |
| FY2021 | 235 | 378 | 174 | 439 | -14 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 269 | 475 | 234 | 509 | 34 | 2 |
| FY2023 | 210 | 279 | 170 | 319 | -3 | -5 |
| FY2024 | 185 | 380 | 201 | 363 | 0 | 0 |
| FY2025 | 99 | 363 | 186 | 275 | -36 | -8 |
| FY2026 | 114 | 451 | 220 | 346 | -52 | 4 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.