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 | 105 | 119 | 165 | 60 | 8 | 4 |
| FY2016 | 110 | 134 | 175 | 69 | 3 | 4 |
| FY2017 | 111 | 134 | 172 | 73 | -20 | 2 |
| FY2018 | 107 | 115 | 158 | 63 | -16 | 16 |
| FY2019 | 103 | 407 | 152 | 358 | 94 | 14 |
| FY2020 | 118 | 633 | 145 | 605 | 116 | 4 |
| FY2021 | 158 | 704 | 224 | 638 | 91 | 3 |
| FY2022 | 131 | 381 | 155 | 356 | 40 | 9 |
| FY2023 | 112 | 168 | 155 | 126 | 3 | 8 |
| FY2024 | 103 | 153 | 102 | 155 | 40 | 10 |
| FY2025 | 93 | 163 | 99 | 157 | 23 | 11 |
| FY2026 | 94 | 201 | 125 | 170 | 32 | 7 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.