DEA Aviation took 41 days longer to pay suppliers while revenue stood still

In the year to March 2026, DEA Aviation Limited, a UK company reporting in pounds, owed its trade suppliers GBP 3.4m, up from GBP 868k a year earlier. Payable days, the average time taken to pay suppliers, stood at 55 days, against 14 days before. Revenue barely moved: GBP 22.1m against GBP 22.1m, a change of 0.1%. So the bigger supplier balance did not come from bigger sales. Over the same period operating profit swung to GBP 3.8m from a loss of GBP 1.0m, and cash rose to GBP 3.1m from GBP 1.4m.

Payable days usually rise for one of two reasons: the company negotiated longer terms, or it is short of cash and pays late. Either way, suppliers end up financing the business for free. The accounts do not say which of the two applies here. Cash grew by GBP 1.7m, and I would ask how much of that growth is simply bills waiting longer. If suppliers returned to their standard terms, that cash would be the first thing to go. A balance sheet always looks tidier when the invoices are still unpaid.