In which year, the percentage profit earned by the company B is less than that…

Concept

A company's profit percentage is already a ratio — (Income minus Expenditure) divided by Expenditure, times 100 — computed against that company's own expenditure. Because it is a percentage, it is already expressed on a common, normalized percentage scale, so the profit percentages of two different companies can be compared directly as numbers for any year, without needing their absolute expenditure or income figures and without their bases needing to match.

Applying this directly to the table: for each year, compare company A’s profit percentage against company B’s profit percentage.

Step-by-step comparison

1. 2011: A = 20%, B = 30% — B is greater than A.

2. 2012: A = 35%, B = 40% — B is greater than A.

3. 2013: A = 45%, B = 35% — B is less than A.

4. 2014: A = 40%, B = 50% — B is greater than A.

5. 2015: A = 25%, B = 35% — B is greater than A.

Cross-check

As an independent check, express company B's 2013 profit percentage as a fraction of company A's: 35 divided by 45 is less than 1, confirming that company B's percentage is indeed lower than company A's for that year.

Conclusion

Hence, 2013 is the year in which company B's percentage profit is less than that of company A.