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 | 15 | 2 | 12 | 5 | -21 | -1 |
| FY2016 | 72 | 10 | 78 | 4 | 130 | 1 |
| FY2017 | 23 | 16 | 344 | -306 | -122 | 3 |
| FY2018 | 12 | — | — | 12 | 4 | 11 |
| FY2019 | 57 | — | — | 57 | 4 | 13 |
| FY2020 | 38 | — | — | 38 | -29 | 12 |
| FY2021 | 32 | — | — | 32 | -13 | 9 |
| FY2022 | 37 | — | — | 37 | -80 | 5 |
| FY2023 | 43 | 81 | 451 | -327 | -38 | 10 |
| FY2024 | 58 | 121 | 516 | -337 | 54 | 18 |
| FY2025 | 30 | 94 | 494 | -370 | 41 | 18 |
| FY2026 | 51 | 101 | 575 | -422 | 24 | 17 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.