CAT 2022 Slot 2 · DILR · Set 3: Revenue, Costs and Employees of Four Companies

The full set and all 5 questions (Q11–Q15) from CAT 2022 Slot 2, with answers and solutions.

The two plots below show data for four companies code-named A, B, C, and D over three years - 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The first plot shows the revenues and costs incurred by the companies during these years. For example, in 2021, company C earned Rs.100 crores in revenue and spent Rs.30 crores. The profit of a company is defined as its revenue minus its costs.

The second plot shows the number of employees employed by the company (employee strength) at the start of each of these three years, as well as the number of new employees hired each year (new hires). For example, Company B had 250 employees at the start of 2021, and 30 new employees joined the company during the year.

Question 11 · Reasoning Based DI

Considering all three years, which company had the highest annual profit?

A
Company A
B
Company D
C
Company B
D
Company C

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Solving the set

Step 1 – Read the first plot (revenue on the horizontal axis, cost on the vertical axis) and compute profit = revenue − cost (Rs. crores).

Company	2019 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2020 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2021 (Rev, Cost, Profit)
A	90, 85, 5	90, 65, 25	60, 30, 30
B	100, 75, 25	90, 40, 50	30, 30, 0
C	25, 20, 5	70, 60, 10	100, 30, 70
D	50, 40, 10	20, 50, −30	70, 70, 0

Step 2 – Read the second plot (employee strength at the start of the year on the horizontal axis, new hires on the vertical axis).

Company	Start 2019	Hires 2019	Start 2020	Hires 2020	Start 2021	Hires 2021
A	150	20	140	35	150	25
B	210	35	240	45	250	30
C	325	45	325	40	325	35
D	400	30	410	35	400	40

Step 3 – Employees lost during a year = strength at the start + hires − strength at the start of the next year.

This question

From Step 1, the highest annual profit is C's Rs 70 crores in 2021.

Hence, the answer is option 4.

Question 12 · Reasoning Based DI

Which of the four companies experienced the highest annual loss in any of the years?

A
Company C
B
Company A
C
Company B
D
Company D

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Solving the set

Step 1 – Read the first plot (revenue on the horizontal axis, cost on the vertical axis) and compute profit = revenue − cost (Rs. crores).

Company	2019 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2020 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2021 (Rev, Cost, Profit)
A	90, 85, 5	90, 65, 25	60, 30, 30
B	100, 75, 25	90, 40, 50	30, 30, 0
C	25, 20, 5	70, 60, 10	100, 30, 70
D	50, 40, 10	20, 50, −30	70, 70, 0

Step 2 – Read the second plot (employee strength at the start of the year on the horizontal axis, new hires on the vertical axis).

Company	Start 2019	Hires 2019	Start 2020	Hires 2020	Start 2021	Hires 2021
A	150	20	140	35	150	25
B	210	35	240	45	250	30
C	325	45	325	40	325	35
D	400	30	410	35	400	40

Step 3 – Employees lost during a year = strength at the start + hires − strength at the start of the next year.

This question

The only loss in the table is D's Rs 30 crores in 2020 (revenue 20, cost 50).

Hence, the answer is option 4.

Question 13 · Reasoning Based DI

The ratio of a company's annual profit to its annual costs is a measure of its performance. Which of the four companies had the lowest value of this ratio in 2019?

A
Company A
B
Company D
C
Company B
D
Company C

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

Solving the set

Step 1 – Read the first plot (revenue on the horizontal axis, cost on the vertical axis) and compute profit = revenue − cost (Rs. crores).

Company	2019 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2020 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2021 (Rev, Cost, Profit)
A	90, 85, 5	90, 65, 25	60, 30, 30
B	100, 75, 25	90, 40, 50	30, 30, 0
C	25, 20, 5	70, 60, 10	100, 30, 70
D	50, 40, 10	20, 50, −30	70, 70, 0

Step 2 – Read the second plot (employee strength at the start of the year on the horizontal axis, new hires on the vertical axis).

Company	Start 2019	Hires 2019	Start 2020	Hires 2020	Start 2021	Hires 2021
A	150	20	140	35	150	25
B	210	35	240	45	250	30
C	325	45	325	40	325	35
D	400	30	410	35	400	40

Step 3 – Employees lost during a year = strength at the start + hires − strength at the start of the next year.

This question

Company	2019 profit	2019 cost	Profit / cost
A	5	85	0.06
B	25	75	0.33
C	5	20	0.25
D	10	40	0.25

Company A has the lowest profit-to-cost ratio in 2019.

Hence, the answer is option 1.

Question 14 · Reasoning Based DI

The total number of employees lost in 2019 and 2020 was the least for:

A
Company B
B
Company D
C
Company A
D
Company C

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

Solving the set

Step 1 – Read the first plot (revenue on the horizontal axis, cost on the vertical axis) and compute profit = revenue − cost (Rs. crores).

Company	2019 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2020 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2021 (Rev, Cost, Profit)
A	90, 85, 5	90, 65, 25	60, 30, 30
B	100, 75, 25	90, 40, 50	30, 30, 0
C	25, 20, 5	70, 60, 10	100, 30, 70
D	50, 40, 10	20, 50, −30	70, 70, 0

Step 2 – Read the second plot (employee strength at the start of the year on the horizontal axis, new hires on the vertical axis).

Company	Start 2019	Hires 2019	Start 2020	Hires 2020	Start 2021	Hires 2021
A	150	20	140	35	150	25
B	210	35	240	45	250	30
C	325	45	325	40	325	35
D	400	30	410	35	400	40

Step 3 – Employees lost during a year = strength at the start + hires − strength at the start of the next year.

This question

Company	Lost in 2019 = Start 2019 + Hires 2019 − Start 2020	Lost in 2020 = Start 2020 + Hires 2020 − Start 2021	Total
A	150 + 20 − 140 = 30	140 + 35 − 150 = 25	55
B	210 + 35 − 240 = 5	240 + 45 − 250 = 35	40
C	325 + 45 − 325 = 45	325 + 40 − 325 = 40	85
D	400 + 30 − 410 = 20	410 + 35 − 400 = 45	65

Company B lost the fewest employees over 2019 and 2020.

Hence, the answer is option 1.

Question 15 · Reasoning Based DI

Profit per employee is the ratio of a company's profit to its employee strength. For this purpose, the employee strength in a year is the average of the employee strength at the beginning of that year and the beginning of the next year. In 2020, which of the four companies had the highest profit per employee?

A
Company D
B
Company C
C
Company B
D
Company A

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option C

Solving the set

Step 1 – Read the first plot (revenue on the horizontal axis, cost on the vertical axis) and compute profit = revenue − cost (Rs. crores).

Company	2019 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2020 (Rev, Cost, Profit)	2021 (Rev, Cost, Profit)
A	90, 85, 5	90, 65, 25	60, 30, 30
B	100, 75, 25	90, 40, 50	30, 30, 0
C	25, 20, 5	70, 60, 10	100, 30, 70
D	50, 40, 10	20, 50, −30	70, 70, 0

Step 2 – Read the second plot (employee strength at the start of the year on the horizontal axis, new hires on the vertical axis).

Company	Start 2019	Hires 2019	Start 2020	Hires 2020	Start 2021	Hires 2021
A	150	20	140	35	150	25
B	210	35	240	45	250	30
C	325	45	325	40	325	35
D	400	30	410	35	400	40

Step 3 – Employees lost during a year = strength at the start + hires − strength at the start of the next year.

This question

Company	Profit 2020	Average strength 2020	Profit per employee
A	25	(140 + 150)/2 = 145	0.172
B	50	(240 + 250)/2 = 245	0.204
C	10	325	0.031
D	−30	(410 + 400)/2 = 405	negative

Company B had the highest profit per employee in 2020.

Hence, the answer is option 3.

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