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 | 1 | 76 | 146 | -69 | -37 | 32 |
| FY2016 | 3 | 73 | 191 | -116 | -38 | 26 |
| FY2017 | 3 | 127 | 264 | -134 | -57 | 23 |
| FY2018 | 6 | 113 | 254 | -135 | -26 | 22 |
| FY2019 | 42 | 393 | 662 | -227 | -26 | 7 |
| FY2020 | 24 | 168 | 289 | -97 | -7 | 6 |
| FY2021 | 18 | 158 | 189 | -13 | -35 | 6 |
| FY2022 | 26 | 135 | 136 | 25 | -27 | 6 |
| FY2023 | 34 | 146 | 100 | 80 | 17 | 6 |
| FY2024 | 44 | 150 | 116 | 78 | 20 | 5 |
| FY2025 | 49 | 148 | 122 | 75 | 34 | 6 |
| FY2026 | 35 | 178 | 107 | 106 | 48 | 5 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.