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 | 67 | 175 | 125 | 118 | 6 | 23 |
| FY2016 | 68 | 158 | 154 | 71 | -1 | 28 |
| FY2017 | 89 | 193 | 165 | 116 | -34 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 98 | 211 | 167 | 142 | 17 | 18 |
| FY2019 | 110 | 208 | 149 | 169 | 10 | 15 |
| FY2020 | 94 | 207 | 151 | 150 | -19 | 11 |
| FY2021 | 76 | 227 | 155 | 148 | -6 | 14 |
| FY2022 | 80 | 245 | 141 | 184 | 19 | 13 |
| FY2023 | 94 | 197 | 123 | 168 | 70 | 15 |
| FY2024 | 97 | 202 | 125 | 175 | 88 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 64 | 227 | 131 | 160 | 3 | 24 |
| FY2026 | 73 | 282 | 142 | 212 | -40 | 21 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.